


Cold As Death

by ninjakitty15



Series: Immortal Peril [1]
Category: Loki-Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Avenger Loki (Marvel), Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 07:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 54,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninjakitty15/pseuds/ninjakitty15
Summary: Hydra calls her a reaper, Tony calls her the zombie queen, lore and the rest of the world know her as necromancer but she prefer to be called Nell. Noelle was just a lab rat to Hydra when Loki, aiding the Avengers found her. Now on the loose and at the insistence of Tony to prove herself a good guy, she joins the team to help hunt down the ones that want her for her power over death itself. Nell instantly finds herself pulled to Loki between him freeing her from hydra himself and the fact anytime they touch she feels alive again after being a living corpse for so long while Loki can't help but be intrigued by someone as powerful and as unfazed by death as he is.





	1. Looks That Could Kill

**Author's Note:**

> Set after Ragnarok as if Infinity Wars and Endgame never happened in the MCU and the Avengers never split up.  
Disclaimer: I own no MCU character because that would be outlandish and awesome, I own all the OC's though, all the necromancers and bad guys outside of Hydra.

By all accounts, today should've been like the countless other days before it. Just another day stuck in a glass cell with the occasional "scientist" trying to figure out how to harness something no regular schmuck or mortal could hope to grasp by poking, prodding, and bleeding me. But this was Hydra for you, try to change one idiots mind, and several more idiots tell you you're wrong. German, American, or other, there are evil idiots in every corner of every world, that's for damn sure. At this point I couldn't figure out why they still kept me here, locked away from everything when they couldn't what they wanted from me. They already tried torturing it out of me like pain would make me crumble, I just ended up wincing or laughing depending on what they did as there were times I actually wasn't sure I felt anything, not because they did it often enough or it was that bad, I was just sorta dead inside so some nerve endings didn't always work. 

The only thing remotely unusual about today though was it wasn't as busy where they stashed me, hands locked in power dampening shackles and a metal muzzle to boot. At some point earlier they attempted to keep me sedated and unconscious but I woke myself back up once they left me alone thinking I was no longer a problem. Amateurs. As I sat in the middle of the cell, eyes closed but fully alert and coherent, I felt before I ever heard a presence that felt otherworldly to me. They were silent, seeming to observe with caution as I felt it get closer and start to circle the container then pause right where I knew the controls of the cage to be. There was a fifty fifty chance this presence would let me out, the other half being they come in and another round of human pinata would start but instead of candy it would just be blood and a lot of bad puns and jokes falling out of me, maybe drop a few s/m mentions. Serious folks tend to get real uncomfortable when you get sexual on them. If you can't laugh about sex, you don't have a sense of humor. A button was pressed on the panel and a door formed in front of me where the glass was and I got a stronger feel of who or what was in front of me on the other side. They were definitely not your average Joe, probably not even human and flowing with a lifeforce not even mutants could possibly obtain. An immortal for sure. They took one step toward me and because this wasn't something I'd encountered since my containment, I instinctively tensed which made them pause again.

"You're awake?" A smooth almost british accented voice, noted softly yet curiously.

I opened my eyes then just to confirm that as the muzzle was holding back my usual smartass responses. They was actually one tall man clad in leather and gold metal, watching me carefully with piercing blue/green eyes. Maybe it was seeing the same ugly mugs every day for gods know how long I've been down here and finally seeing a new face, maybe it was the fact he was wearing my two favorite colors and pulled it off better than anyone else I've seen try that. But damn did he look good. It might also be the killer jawline and physique too. His eyes fixated on the muzzle for a moment and a hardened scowl formed for some reason, surprisingly not twisting the dashing look like it does most angry men. And then suddenly I could speak again but opted to gasp like a dying beached fish because damn did it feel good to not have airways being blocked anymore. Vaguely I wondered if my lips were chapped from the damned thing before smiling maniacally.

"Finally, oral freedom!" I cried overdramatically. "I don't usually offer though unless its returned, all's fair in love and fun stuff."

The man cracked a small smile and ventured a step closer to me. "What are you? And why are you in here?"

"Could ask you the same thing, hun," i quipped. "And seeing as I was here first, you should answer first."

He chuckled and took a more confident step toward me though his lifeforce strengthened like a guard around him. Before he could answer himself though, a booming and somehow familiar voice called out. "Loki, have you found anything down there?!" Which caused the dude now named Loki to cringe at the interruption and sigh.

"No one here but us ghouls," I told him in answer.

"They have a prisoner down here, brother!" replied Loki though his eyes never left me.

"Prisoner's such a harsh word, I prefer forced resident or illegal obtained house guest," I informed him. "You answer his questions, but not mine. It's because I'm black, isn't it?" I was actually what one would describe in terms of skin color as not recently dead pale white.

"I thought he was answer enough, I'm sure you know of Thor, he likes to play the hero of this realm," Loki replied to me, an eyebrow arched.

"The Norse God of shitty weather? Y'all aren't busy with cooler realms?" I asked.

"This wasn't my choice," was his dry response, making me smile more.

I snickered. "Spoken like a true sibling. So you came down here, an alien immortal, because your big brother told you so. My heart bleeds for you really."

He glared at my unabashed sarcasm and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now answer mine before he comes in and makes a great mess of this place."

"More than the people that came with this building already have? That's gotta take talent. But I'll bite. They hunted me down gods know how long ago and attempted to extract something from me that makes me awesome, didn't work obviously or they'd make a mess not even your brother could trump and we wouldn't be here talking. Too valuable to be killed, though they couldn't if they tried, too stubborn to be experimented on. Where'd they go anyway? Are you guys the reason I didn't get my daily prodding?"

"My brothers...friends dealt with the ones they could find, if they're anything like their namesake, I'm sure there's more in hiding waiting for reinforcements or something like that."

Another man leaped down out of nowhere that definitely wasn't Thor as he didn't have long golden locks or a beard, his head and half his face were actually covered by a mask and instead of a hammer was a shield in one arm.

"Thor failed to mention it was a woman," the new dude noted.

"And my gender matters because...?" I wasn't actually offended by this, just messing with him to get a reaction which worked as he genuinely looked bashful, making me cackle. "For all the armor you people wear, it's still surprisingly easy to get under your skin. Maybe I've just been here so long, they're just fashion statements now, if everyone's wearing leather armor count me in!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but it's just us," Loki told me.

"She tell you why they're holding her?" the new man asked him.

"They're trying to steal her powers though I'm not sure what they are yet."

"Only the best kind of course," I told them. "It's all the rage these days, all the Hydra agents gotta have it."

"Well they can find it somewhere else as you're free from them but you can tell us all about the what and why, if you don't mind," the new man said.

"You say that so politely but I'm getting the sense you weren't asking. I'll comply if you give me a hand here, mine are a bit tied up at the moment." I raised my shackled hands as high as able since they were chained to the metal floor beneath me.

The new man was quick to break the chains connecting me to the floor before Loki waved a hand like Jedi Knight and the shackled sprang open, dropping to the floor with a loud clang. I flexed my hands and shook them a bit to get feeling back with them being cramped and slowly got to my feet, staggering a bit as my leg bones cracked from the sudden use and weight. I sighed in sweet relief and relaxed with a slight grin. "Alrighty then!" With my hands free, so was my powers just a bit more and I could collect and stretch it out, testing the waters. That seemed to be enough for Loki to notice being a power person as well and both eyebrows shot up as he probably felt what I was doing. I winked at him before turning to the other guy. "Onward and upward!"

With the new guy leading me out of the building and Loki being my tail, I was on my way to freedom for good before being nearly blinded by that god awful ball of fire in the sky, everyone else calls the sun. I recoiled and refrained from hissing like an angry vampire, stumbling back into Loki in the process who steadied me and smirked at my reaction to daylight. The new guy looked back hearing me cursing at it and raised an eyebrow in question but didn't actually ask anything.

"What? I'm not a morning person," I responded before straightening up but subtly elbowing Loki in the stomach, causing a soft grunt from behind while accidentally hitting my funny bone which wasn't that funny at all as my entire arm went numb and tingly at the same time. "Stupid toned god with your stupid abs of granite."

The new guy stopped walking and pressed a hand against his ear. "We're out, all the agents we could flush out are dealt with. A ride would be nice." Ah he was talking on a com of some kind it seems. How high tech yet old school. Within a few moments, an even more hightech fighter plane of some kind hovered low enough for him to climb in first then offer his hand to pull me up as I was unfortunately not remotely as tall or long legged as either man near me. I looked around the plane curiously to see another man and a redhaired woman at the front as pilots, the woman looking back and landing her eyes on me as well.

"Are you the prisoner Thor spoke of?" she asked.

"I'm the illegally obtained house guest, yes." Loki snickered behind me and I reminded myself not to elbow him again as my arm still hadn't gotten proper feeling back.

The woman smiled as well and nodded. "Buckle up then, we're heading back to base, could get bumpy. All good back there, Steve?" she called after the first new guy who was now Steve.

"Ready when you are," he answered, sitting at the tail end of the machine.

The plane rose up and shot forward at an illegally unsafe speed above the city. Loki had settled across from me, eyes ever studying me but unlike the agents that actually did and more, they weren't malicious or power hungry, just cautious and curious. I decided to test his resolve then and locked my eyes on his in an unwavering staring contest. "First one to blink loses."

"Is that why they muzzled you? Because if you're not under their skin, you're cracking jokes?" he asked.

"If you don't have a sense of humor you don't have much to live for and that's how they win. Also no, it's not how I talked, but who I talked to or when it wasn't them."

"To contain your powers, like they did your hands then. And they didn't get anything from you?"

"What I have can't be drained or pulled out or copied, it's not specifically found in something like DNA or an organ or something physical even. Those guys claim to be scientists but real scientists accept facts as they are when proof is found and I'm living proof they're all frauds with no results. I bet they don't even have a Ph.D."

"They're Hydra, they're funded by power and money, not degrees and universities," Steve spoke up.

"So you're telling me they just pulled a few crazy people with crazyass theories on things from a hat and told them they're scientists now? I should've gone to college there, I wanna have money and be told I have a job with more money. All I got from mine a piece of paper saying I know some things and then years of disappointment from being unemployed. I probably look good in a lab coat too."

"A stark difference from your current attire of all black and hooded," Loki pointed out.

I snorted. "All they let me wear after ruining the one I was caught in from their experimentation, they thought the attire should fit the power, how unimaginative is that? Let's just advertise exactly what I can do to everyone around me, that'll throw them off for sure."

"And what can you do?" he challenged.

"Uh-uh, spoilers sweety. A preview of which will cost you extra."

"But we just gave you a free ride," chipped the male pilot.

"Hey, you're not part of this conversation, and I don't even know where we're going, this could be a free ride to something worse. Like Shield or the dentist."

"Bad experience? Ate too much candy as a kid, didn't you?" the pilot guessed.

"If you think there's such thing as too much candy, then your childhood sucked and I pity your past."

"Tony's gonna love this one," mused the female pilot. "What's your name?"

"I've been out of custody for like 15 minutes and finally someone asks! It's Noelle, Nell for short. And you pilots are...?"

"About to land for starters," the man said. "I'm Clint, she's Nat, and we're at base so everyone out of my plane."

"That's Tony's plane actually," quipped Loki as the plane landed and everyone unbuckled. "Come along, meet the rest of my brother's friends."


	2. Mischief Managed

Hydra's base was definitely considered a prison compared this base where it was more house arrest for me it seemed. I was given my own room and choice of clothes that were definitely not black and reminiscent of a grim reaper, those unimaginative fucks. I could wander around the whole floor and whatnot, just not allowed to leave and still under observation, I didn't complain though as at least I could talk and eat and move and hopefully it wasn't as invasive. They were called the Avengers, which is why Thor sounded familiar, I later recalled watching footage of them fighting aliens in NYC at one point before Hydra had their fun with me. Loki was assigned to monitor me, or rather he volunteered to, somehow that wasn't surprising considering he found me first and if I know anything about younger siblings, they guard their findings like Cerberus guards the underworld. Understandable considering Thor tends to break everything he comes in contact with, must be why he's still single, those poor exes. Nat was right, Tony who I met upon arriving at the base loved having someone as snarky as he was around and I loved bantering right back, Hydra aren't much for conversationalists. Loki however quieter and curiouser, proved the best company. My favorite past time became "see how long I can slip from his sight before he finds me and pretend I didn't do it on purpose".

He found me raiding the kitchen at some ungodly hour eating ice cream straight from the container and arched an eyebrow as I smiled innocently at him with a mouthful of moosetracks goodness. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Orgasmically," I replied happily.

"There a reason you're stuffing yourself with creamed ice at this hour?"

"Would you believe it was calling to me?"

"You do know I'm the God of Lies, right?"

"If I don't eat something sweet I'll die of malnutrition?"

"Try again."

"It's ice cream, why do I need a reason more than that?"

"Let me be the judge of that then."

I held the container tighter to me. "Get your own damn midnight snack, this is mine, I claim it in the name of me, Nell."

Loki smirked and took a daring step toward me with a look of a cat about to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. "You have no claim here, you're a guest."

I snorted and shoveled another spoonful of heaven in my mouth while taking a step back. "So are you, Asgardian. But as I was born on this planet, I have more claim to it than you do. Check and mate, king me."

"You think you were the first ones to walk this planet? Try again." Another step toward me. "Give it to me now or else."

"Or else what? If you're going to threaten me, do it properly." My back hit the wall behind me as I took another step back. I gripped my ice cream against my check and brandished my spoon like a dagger despite it being neither pointy nor threatening. "Don't make me spoon you, I forking mean it."

If Loki was a cat right now, he would've been doing that cute little butt wiggle cats do to calculate the distance and force needed to hit the target. I kinda wish he did, he had a cute butt already. He didn't get to pounce though as the lights to the kitchen suddenly turned on and at the entrance was a sleepy but amused looking Thor standing there with a smug look and arms crossed. "And what is going on here at this late hour."

I looked from him to Loki to my ice cream and back to Thor. "Loki's trying to steal my happy food."

"Is that true, brother?" Thor asked with a laugh.

"I'm fairly certain she has no claim to it so it's anyone's including mine," Loki replied slyly.

"What flavor?" asked Thor.

"Moosetracks!"

"I've not tried that yet, can I have a taste?" he asked hopefully.

"Grab a spoon." I scooted away from Loki's target line and held out the tub as Thor eagerly got a spoon for himself. "Ask nicely and thou shalt be rewarded." I stuck out my tongue for good measure.

"This is most delicious, is this what moose tastes like?" Thor inquired.

"That's just what the guy that invented it calls it, I've no idea what moose tastes like. Probably something like deer I'd imagine, they're a bit too big and aggressive to be hunted regularly here...and kinda ugly too. Like if a deer and a hippo got together one drunken night, that would be their bastard baby." I let Thor finish the tub just to piss Loki off a little more while licking my spoon clean.

"Sleep with one eye open, child," Loki warned me though there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Bold of you to assume I sleep at all," I countered. People would say I sleep like the dead when I want to but he didn't know that.

"You really should sleep though, the man of iron wants to see you in his lab tomorrow bright and early," Thor told me as he threw away the tub.

"Didn't any of you inform him I'm not a morning person? I thought that was pretty clear when we met."

"Should have thought of that before you devoured all your happiness," Loki stated smugly. "Sweet dreams." He slunk away with a smirk and a wink and I was left with Thor who retreated to his quarters soon after.

Morning came far too quickly for my liking as I was woken up abruptly by knocking I instantly knew as Loki on the other side. He probably was smirking still while I growled in annoyance and quickly changed into lounge clothes before opening the door and glaring at him for waking me up. I had to admit even in earth clothes he looked damn good though I didn't see why he had to wear sharp looking suits when his main business called for leather and metal. I'd say it was an Asgardian thing but then there's Thor in a hoodie and jeans when he's not off being a hero.

"Pleasant dreams?" Loki asked smoothly while leading me to where Tony was awaiting.

"Just the sweetest, almost as sweet as moosetracks," I quipped right back.

Tony was waiting for us with a confident yet hopeful look as he beckoned me inside and I complied, propping myself up on the examining table in front of him while Loki stood by the doorway either as another observer or guard. "I heard you ate all my ice cream."

"I heard the law is still innocent until proven guilty and I can attest Thor finished it off."

Tony chuckled. "That sounds like him during the day but he usually sleeps through the night and I bought the tub the day before so it had to have gone missing during the night. Points for trying though."

I shrugged. "It was for a good cause, I regret nothing."

"That's all that matter then, right? You ready?"

"I mean no one told me what we're doing here so um not really."

"Oh well, too late now. Loki says you won't say what you can do, which I applaud because why should he get all the answers first when this is my domain and you're both guests here. But I'd still like to know why Hydra kept you so what would it take to spill?"

"Tell me what you plan on doing with me first."

"Nothing without your permission of course, gentleman first, scientist second."

"I'm sure you say that to all your lady specimen."

"Innocent until proven guilty."

I chuckled and shrugged. "Well played. There's names, titles if you will that people believe fit the bill I rack up. But I'm curious if you've guessed just from what you know of me."

"You came here in a big black hoodie and told Loki and the Cap they made you wear it because thats what they thought you were like. Since being goth or emo isn't a superpower anyone would ever want, thankfully, my first uneducated assumption would have to be it involves death."

I smiled though from what I heard of Tony, it shouldn't be surprising, an idiot would've figured that out and it was idiots that made me dress that way. 

"Are you a reaper like the shortlived show Dead Like Me?"

"Well I mean most people are, anyone can kill anyone though it might take more than touch to do so. But not really, my power isn't a death touch...per say, I mean I can do that with a specific move but it's not recommended and not pleasant for either party."

"What's the move then?"

"I basically rip the lifeforce out of a person but it's like manhandling a nuclear reactor with your bare hands, unless you can quickly and smoothly channel it to another body capable of absorbing it, it can destroy you...or just burn you up depending on how close the first body was to dying anyway." I could hear the gears grinding and churning in both men's heads in the lab, my money was on Tony though.

"What do I get if I guess first?"

"A scooby snack?"

"Are you calling me Shaggy? Clearly I'm the Fred of the gang, Thor is the Shaggy if it's anyone."

I nodded, he might not run in fear of all the masked monsters but he has the hair and goofy personality to match. "What do you want that I can offer and you can't buy yourself?"

"That is the trillion dollar question, isn't it? I'm sure lots of people are wondering that whenever they see me. Not a reaper though there are reaper like abilities involved, only one name comes to mind when it comes to death powers though. You're a necromancer."

I clapped my hands in approval and nodded again. "A chrome star for you. That's the most valuable metal right? I'm more a precious stone girl myself, like amber or obsidian."

"Of course," mused Loki quietly. "They bound your hands so you couldn't raise the dead through magic and gagged you so you couldn't call them to your aid. That's why your powers felt familiar, it's quite similar to Hela's."

"Except she does go for the goth goddess look which is a bit much even if she is in fact a goddess of death. She also favors one such army of dead, whereas I'll bring up anyone that wants to fight within range, not fussy and much less effort involved."

"So to sum up, you can talk to and raise the dead, steal someone's lifeforce but at great cost to you, there's more isn't there?" asked Tony.

"Those are the big ones though."

"And the hydra agents? How far did they get with you?"

"They failed after the first date, didn't wait three days before calling back, those needy bastards."

"People still do that? I would skip the calls and just take them to bed."

"I know, right? So would I! Ain't no time like the present. They didn't get anything, blood and tissue samples they collected would come up as leftovers from a corpse, my body is dead without my powers sustaining it and anything taken from my body is no longer attached to my powers. Like when you kill a werewolf, they return to human form, you dont get a cool wolfman head to mount to a wall plaque."

"You're not just saying that so I won't take any from you, are you?"

"You're welcome to try." I held out my arm and with a fingernail, sliced open my skin, sludgy blackened blood oozed out. "Get it while it's not quite fresh off the tap."

Tony grabbed a test tube and grinned to himself as he collected it. "Don't mind if I do, I'll let you know if there's a change the Hydra agents missed. Can I get a swab too, open up and say ah?"

"As long as its not a papsmear, I prefer lady gynos...for reasons." I opened my mouth and he took a cotton swab sample and tubed that as well. "Anything else?"

"Right now, no, but I'd like to see what you can do in person so next mission you're coming with, Loki as well, trust him just a little more than I trust you right now and if you turn out to be not as cool as you appear, I'm placing bets he can handle you."

I scowled at that bet and looked over at Loki who held a full on smirk knowing what was going on. "It's because I'm a woman and men feel threatened by women of power."

"No, he's a god and you're not, the odds aren't in your favor."

I rolled my eyes and hopped off the table. "At least I don't need fancy armor to kick ass."


	3. Say Hello to My Little Friends

So as it turned out Loki was pretty much my chaperone till they could trust me which probably wouldn't be for a while anyway. The mission came fast enough as in the day after the first checkup, another hydra base came on the radar and lucky for me they were built near a place of death. I opted to be the last resort as a surprise attack and watch them do their own magic first before joining the party. Loki proved to be the most entertaining to watch as he fought off the agents swiftly and precisely with a sort of confident grace while the majority of the muggles just opted as destroying their enemy with maximum power. Unfortunately for them, more agents streamed out before long, and with bigger badder weapons.

"We appear to be outnumbered here," mused Loki on the com. "Anymore toys up your sleeve, Stark?"

"I'll have you know none of my weaponry are toys, hobbies maybe but that's completely different."

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, you overgrown little boy," I muttered quietly. Loki laughed while still poised to fight as the agents surrounded them all. "Ya'll need to remember as long as you're with me, you're never outnumbered, the dead will always outnumber the living." My already pale eyes went milk white as I shifted to my calling, outstretched my arms and raised my army from beneath. Corpses sprouted right where the agents were standing, latched onto their legs and either pulled or just chomped on them before more of mine popped up and swarmed them. One agent however caught on to what was happening and found me, I recognized him as one of the guards that stood watch while I was being experimented on. I smirked as our eyes locked and without breaking concentration on my army, swung one outstretched hand to him and the spirits of all the people he killed formed around him before all possessing him at once. A moment later, they all fled his body but they took his spirit with him as they left and the empty body collapsed in front of me. Through the eyes of the dead that followed me I could see the agents surrounding the mortals were dealt with but Loki wasn't faring as well, they wanted him for some reason so I directed my dead that were left to aid him till everyone left standing on the same side I decided to defend. When there were no agents left, I relaxed and told the dead in their own language to rest, their job here was done for now. They sunk into the ground, taking their victims corpses with them, I lowered my hand as they returned to their slumber and my eyes regained some color now that I wasn't needed. Loki was the first to greet me on the battlefield.

"They seemed to be after you more than the others," I noted.

"That will change if they find out you've joined our ranks. They didn't see you did they?"

"One did but that's as far as he got before I got to him, dead men tell no tales as they say."

"What did you do exactly?"

I grinned widely. "Returned the lives he stole to him and they in turn stole him from his body."

"How poetic."

"Thought I'd show those cunts what real creativeness can do."

"Language!" Steve scolded on the com.

"Fuck off, assbutt."

Loki laughed at my blatant vulgarity and looked around at the battlefield while waiting for the team to assemble. Tony was first to meet up, his metal mask propped up so he could look at us properly without a bunch of tech in the way.

"So all those zombies, that was you?"

"Twas."

"Should I be worried who they were before that?"

"No, I respect the dead more than the living, usually its just random people or recently fallen victims of the target that I raise up, all people that would fight and eat them if given the chance to."

"How can you tell which ones would though?" asked Steve.

"I ask them like a normal person...I might be dead inside but I'm not a monster. Loki already confirmed I speak to them, it's the reason he found me muzzled at the first base." Now if only I could get to first base with him...

Of course right when I was beginning to daydream, a bright blazing ring of fire formed around me first then another appeared in midair and another tall man with deadly jawbones walked through it in blue and red. Unlike Loki though, he studied me with way more caution and suspicion for someone I just met. "Stay right where you are, necromancer."

"Hello there sparky sparky boom man, is this how you greet everyone?" I asked curiously and tested the ring he put around me, which turned out to be a trap of sorts as I couldn't leave it without burning or zapping myself.

Loki was the first to react seeing me confined again so soon and daggers slid into his hands out of nowhere. "Release her at once, you third rate warlock!"

"Dr. Strange, fancy meeting you here. There a reason you're ringing my zombie girl?" asked Tony casually.

"She's dangerous and on my watch list of beings bad for this planet."

"Bad for this planet? I'm on the same list as the president? Really? That's low, I'm not bad for it, I'm recycling what the rest of you use up and throw away, what could be better than that? World peace?" I retorted.

"You use dark magic to do so and that's-"

"A fucking lie! Loki back me up on that. I use death magic which is in fact a natural form of magic if anything, spank you very much. Someone didn't do their research." I crossed my arms defiantly and arched an eyebrow in challenge.

Strange frowned at my antics before Loki himself placed himself between my containment and the mystic, one dagger behind him and unseen to anyone but myself that was actively trying to penetrate the shield holding me in. "Why are you protecting her? All of you?"

"Finders keepers," Tony spoke up. "Her skills may be under your branch but we got her first, not our fault you're late to the party."

"I'm not nearly the only necromancer around, though if I find out you're reason some have gone missing we're gonna have a problem. But it begs the question why am I on your list?"

"You're correct, you're not the only one but you are among the most dangerous of them, from what I've gathered you have the highest power level in the region of the group."

I grinned. "It's over 9000?"

He chose to ignore my constant references. "Where've you been hiding that we couldn't observe your actions for almost 5 years."

If it was possible for me to turn another shade paler I probably would have. "I've been underground for 5 years?! Tony, I wanna come on all hydra flushing missions with you guys. I'm so far behind on current events, and TV shows! Why did no one tell me?!"

"To be fair, we didn't know how long you were there and felt it better you tell us the last date you remember before it happened," Steve spoke up finally.

"Last date? What does my nonexistent love life have to do with what year it is?"

"We found her in an isolated cell in an underground hydra base chained to the floor," Tony finally answered Strange. "That's where she's been hiding before we found her, so if you don't mind we'll take our portable zombie army with us."

At that moment, Loki's dagger somehow broke the restraints around me and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Dobby is free!" I couldn't help but cry out. The dagger vanished and the ghosts around me constantly giving me whispered advice that only I could see and hear as a necromancer told me to grab the open hand he was secretly offering where the dagger had been. I almost never ignore ghostly advice so without hesitation I grabbed it and green tendrils of his magic swirled around me and with a whoosh I was suddenly in homebase with Loki again. "Clever boy."

"God of mischief," he reminded me.

"He's not gonna just come here with his magic rings, is he? I really hate running...or any form of exercise really."

Loki chuckled and shook his head. "Stark will keep him off our backs if all goes well."

I looked up at the my size frost giant curiously and our eyes met. "I'm aware you've been assigned to monitor me but that seemed extra what you did back there."

"Would you rather I stand and watch while he finds a way to steal you from the team?"

I shrugged in thought. "Wouldn't be the first, especially on this planet, people tend to just watch when something horrific happens rather than acting on it."

"Lucky for you, I'm not from this planet then, hm?"

"Yes, Loki for me," I replied cheekily.

His turn to arch an eyebrow at my not so subtle pun. "Something on your mind?"

"Oh a few things come to mind, that's for damn sure," I mused. "Thank you though, for helping me out even if it was under orders." Loki seemed surprised by my random politeness and gratitude, both eyebrows went up this time. "What? Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't be civil...does it?"

"Of course not," he mused.

"Think I impressed the team enough to not be stuck in that compound?"

"I've yet to reach that level and I've been here far longer than you have."

"This is true, but I didn't greet the team with an army of aliens run by a nearly indestructible evil alien. Also and more importantly despite how threatened human men feel around women of power, they are still hardwired to protect a damsel in distress and that's how I appeared when y'all met me. If I need protection I can hardly be considered as someone that's a danger to the world...unless you're a cape wearing mystic that thinks you're all that in a bag of chips. What should we do while we have the place to ourselves? Christ, gone for five years, if I didn't hate Hydra before..."


	4. Like Death Warmed Over

"Supernatural ended?! What the actual fuck?! Why?!" I exclaimed while catching up on the shows I missed in the five year absence. "That show was supposed to go till I die...again! My life is over!" I curled up on the couch, hugging my knees to my chest and burying my head in my arms.

"It was quite an entertaining show," Loki agreed, having grown curious early on in my catching up what I was bitching about missing so much. "Is any of it true? The monsters and the ways to kill them?"

"I only know about ghosts and spirits and most kinds of salt does act as a ward against them, rock salt especially. As I don't get rid them by force but by coercion if anything, I don't know if burning the bodies or pieces of the body left would send them away. Not about to try either."

"And the other monsters of legends in there, do they exist?"

"Almost every culture has their monsters on this planet, some overlapping between werewolves and vampires, I wouldn't be surprised if they do but I've not personally seen any beyond my area of expertise. Not my problem."

"What about angels and demons?"

"Those two are a bit different as they were primarily created by only one such religion, and a shady one at that, people somehow have different ideas of what those are. There have been cases of demonic possession in the past but its not like in the show where they're black smoke forcing themselves into your mouth, you don't see it happening, it just happens. Angels on the other hand...bit more complicated, ancient literature depicts them as benevolent guardians of God to carry out his will and guide us lowly humans. Modern media however depicts the majority of them as dicks with an agenda of their own that doesn't involve helping us at all."

"What do you believe then?"

"I have no one religion to believe considering I'm talking to a god right now and was given more power from beings that claim they're gods as well, everyone wants to be king of the mountain."

"And what do you want?"

"A cottage by the shores of Salem, where death and dark magic is strong but not shunned and the weird are welcomed more than the mundane."

"That place sounds intriguing, tell me more about it."

"Centuries ago when my ancestors first settled, people were even more religious nuts than they are now and they were crazy superstitious. They were also just plain crazy and got the idea of obtaining other people's land and property by accusing the owners of being evil witches after watching their daughters dabble in a bit of voodoo magic with their slaves. That's when the infamous Salem Witch Trials started which was a horrific dark mark in this country's history. Hundreds of innocent lives were ended as women and children and even the occasional man was accused, tortured, and locked away for life or executed horrifically."

"And you wish to live there?" he asked incredulously.

"There might be some unrest still from the victims and I want them to be at peace. Also, while the history of the place was terrible to say the least, it has become a bit more whimsical and touristy which I usually hate but they make it so fun there. You might even like it yourself if you ever wanna visit, assuming Tony lets me off the leash and I'm not stuck living here forever. Nowadays its a place that celebrates and capitalizes on magic."

"What if I were to convince Tony to let us have a day trip to there?"

"You'd do that?"

"Why not?"

I shrugged but smiled at the idea. "I'd say you're living up to the nickname Silvertongue."

"Oh that's not the only reason I'm called that," he purred into my ear.

I'm pretty sure if I could still bring color to my skin, I'd have the slightest blush of excitement from his voice alone let alone the suggestion. "Promises promises."

"Tell me something, you say you're dead inside and only the necromancy itself keeps you going, but do you still feel or are your nerves dead too."

"I don't think I'd wanna be alive if I couldn't feel or taste things so yes intense pain and strong levels of pleasure, kinda like a succubus I guess, pleasure keeps me alive, reminds me I'm still kicking." I paused then, trying to read if he was just gonna dump naughty images in my head or actually follow through. I do something totally impulsive then and rest my head on his lap, reaching up and touching the razorsharp jawbones of a god. Though he's cool to the touch, the second I come in contact with him I feel alive again.

"Do you miss being completely alive?" he asked, seeing the sudden but fleeting change from my touch.

"I'm not sure, the life I had before the change was almost complete hell from what I remember and I'm not one of those protagonists that wishes they could just be normal again, I like being what I am. I'd probably have died for real at Hydra, always finding new methods to get the same result of me not doing anything, I think a normal human would've died from the pain or blood loss then."

"That would make you an immortal, staying alive when you should be long dead, unaffected."

I shrugged. "I am what I am. Doubt I'm immortal though, a blade through the heart might not work but most creatures are killed by beheading including zombies which apparently Stark thinks I am. Jokes on him though, I don't eat brains, that's the least appetizing part of the body."

"You know from experience, do you?" he asked in bemusement. "Is it the heart then?"

I wrinkled my nose at this, recalling a certain show where a horse heart was devoured raw. "Have you ever eaten a muscle? It's like eating a wet squishy piece of leather, your jaw starts to ache after a few bites of a chewy chunk. Everyone assumes its the heart or brains thats best because we think since thats our best quality alive, it should be that in a meal." My hand slid from his face to his heart then though was blocked by his green asgardian leisure robes so the feeling of being alive was a bit lost though I still wanted to feel his heart, so many people seemed to think he didn't have one. I wondered if I could survive pulling his lifeforce from him, not that I'd want to of course when just touching him gave me a taste of life, but an immortal with immense power meant he wouldn't be dead for a while and that meant he was a potential atomic bomb in my hands. I was quiet for once, feeling his heartbeat, his power under my hand, so many different thoughts between naughty and dangerous running through my head then. I could feel him watch me just as quiet as I was, ever the curious god observing his new catch. 

"What are you thinking that's stayed your tongue suddenly?" he asked me then.

I smirked. "I'm wondering what true power tastes like."

"Lean up and find out," he challenged smoothly.

Both my eyebrows popped up then, usually when people find out I'm a walking magical corpse they're instantly turned off due to that pesky little thing called necrophilia. I didn't need to be told twice though and did just that, our lips connecting softly. The second it did, my entire body warmed and tingled back to life, causing me to moan into the kiss in the rush of long missed feeling I didn't want to end. What started out as a tasting, testing the waters kiss quickly became one of lust and hunger he was matching just as greedily. I pushed myself up to get even closer to him and his hands snaked around my hips without breaking the kiss. Of course something had to at least give Loki some air to breathe and it was a soft thump coming outside the room followed closely by, "Mr. Stark, are you here?"

We pulled away reluctantly, allowing Loki to catch his breath and me to lose mine returning to my current corpse form. "You'll be the life of me, Loki," I mused. "Did a kid just interrupt this?"

"That must be the Spiderling then," loki replied, waiting for me to get off him before getting off the couch and offering me his hand once more.

I took it curiously and followed him out of the living to where a teenager was looking around wearing a high tech spider themed suit that looked like an offshoot of Deadpool's suit though the mask part was pulled off. He's cute though a bit young. "That has Stark written all over it."

The kid whirled around as his back had been turned to us watching him look for his sugar daddy. "Hi Loki, who are you?"

"Who am I? Who are you?" I countered. "I was here first."

"I'm Spider Parker- I mean Peter Man," he stumbled in answer. "Dammit."

I couldn't hide the laughter at his failed attempt to cover one if not both identities and looked over at Loki who was smirking just the same. "Isn't he just precious?"

"I think you caught him by surprise, not an easy feat as he claims he has a sixth sense for that sort of thing," Loki commented.

I shrugged. "Occupational hazard. Tony's not here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message you can do so elsewhere."

Peter as I guessed his actual name was scowled at me and appeared to get in a defensive stance but once more we were interrupted by something entering the building followed by. "Loki, you guys here?"

"Maybe," I called back.

Tony walked into the room we were all standing in and grinned seeing Peter there as well. "Hey kid, what brings you here?"

"Mr. Stark, I heard rumors theres a horde of zombies at the hydra base and wanted to help," Peter replied quickly.

It was my turn to frown then. "So much for keeping that under wraps, I'm blaming you on this, Stark. You just had to know, didn't you?"

"Me? I'm pretty sure you volunteered as you hate them as much as we do."

"I was hoping you'd handle most of it, you're the Avengers after all, but once more a woman has to clean up a mess made by lousy men."

"You know her, Mr. Stark?" squeaked Peter between the bickering.

"We found her in the second to last base we raided, well Loki did anyway," explained Tony. "I let you into my compound as a guest I know almost nothing about and this is how you thank me."

"You could've just let me go back to where I was before I got caught but noooo, you had to know why I was there."

"She's got a point there, Stark," Loki noted.

"Who's side are you on?" he demanded.

"Hers, clearly. I thought that much was obvious as I'm standing right next to her this whole time."

Tony rolled his eyes but returned his attention to Peter. "Don't worry about it, kid. The zombies don't work for Hydra."

"They don't?" he asked in disbelief.

"They work for me," I chirped. "Well not worked so much as follow since its free of charge and labor."

"You? What are you, the Night Queen?" Peter asked.

Tony chuckled at the reference. My eyes went snow white then and I gave him a look that matched the lead wight walker. "Winter is coming," I told him in a hollow voice.

"M-Mr. Stark, I don't think it's a good idea to have her on the team," Peter told him quietly.

"Are you questioning my judgment, kid?"

"No, sir."

"Good, because she's staying here."

"Actually," I interjected. "I have a request on that note."

Tony turned back to me then with an arched eyebrow. "You're not moving out till I can fully trust you."

"She wants to go on a field trip with me somewhere, just for a day," Loki spoke up.

Tony crossed his arms and looked expectantly at the god. "Where?"

"Only the most magical place in the east coast," I answered.

"Disneyworld?" Peter asked hopefully.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Hell no, that's the most nauseating place in the east coast. So full of families with kids they can't hope to control, and all that noise noise noise. That place ain't magical, it's mechanical and made of money and memories. No, this place isn't in the south and doesn't require commercial airlines to get there."

"Hm, well you proved you can handle yourself on the battlefield and Loki will be with you on this trip but as I still don't trust him completely we'll have someone else with you two to make sure you don't get into too much trouble," Tony stated. "Clint will go with you as he's the only one free at the moment and wasn't fighting off hydra like the rest of us did. Family outting or whatever at his farm."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yup, don't make me regret it either or you'll be on a tighter leash than Loki is."

"Oooh a leash, kinky, what's the safe word?"

"Bananas," he quipped right back, making me cackle before I thanked him for letting have some fun on my own.


	5. Just A Basic Witch

"So archery, huh? Let me guess, you were born in the wrong century."

Clint glanced back at me while flying Tony's "borrowed" flying thing I wasn't quite sure was a plane or jet. "You might actually be worse than Tony with those quips of yours."

"You love it really," I teased.

"Love is a strong word, I tolerate it...moreso with a raise."

I cackled. "They not paying you enough to put up with me? Gotta feed the kids somehow though, right? Have you thought about being a hooker, they're always hiring."

"Do you want him to shoot you?" asked Loki though he had a smirk on the entire time I was bugging Clint.

"I could keep talking but then I took an arrow to the knee," I jested. "Not quite the ring I was hoping for there."

"You know, I read about you people," Clint commented.

"What do you mean 'you people'?"

"Necromancers. Don't you normally require certain things to do what you do? Google images suggest you need a staff at the very least."

I snorted but also took out my new smartphone Tony was nice enough to give me and looked up what people thought necromancers looked like, allowing Loki to see what I see as well. "We also apparently only wear black attire and wear bone jewelry. Really? That's still a stereotype? Bone jewelry? Okay some voodoo practitioners might wear that for shock value but it doesn't have any real purpose and more important is super fucking tacky. We're already made of bones, why do we need more and why wear them on the outside if we need more, they're brittle as fuck, especially if they're old. This is where you got your info from, Clint?"

"Not exclusively," he tried to recover.

"So I'm expected to wear the least practical attire and accessories all time? You any idea how much I stick out looking like Skeletor's little sister here without wearing all black all time while dragging some long metal or wood staff like I'm Sarumon summoning orcs against Rohan. Sure I might blend in well enough at night in all black but the stealth is gone with all the bone jewelry rattling with each movement. Let's just throw some chains in there too, I'm sure they won't see me coming then. Seriously, who comes up with this bullshit? When you caught Loki, did you ask if he gave birth to a horse too?"

"You don't think I did?" Loki responded in amusement while snatching my phone and scrolling through all the depictions of what people thought I'd look like.

"From what I'm told, your adoptive father is too arrogant and vain to ride a horse you created."

"Clever girl. You are correct, that is a myth created to deface me more than they already have. Surprisingly he didn't ask me anything, too busy plotting my death after I got in his head."

"Someone's a sore loser," I mused under my breath so only Loki could hear me. "We there yet? And did you find any actual facts about 'my people' or just what the internet told you?"

"We're nearly there....and I'll let you know when I do," Clint muttered.

"We used to need instruments like a staff or something to be fair," I told Loki quietly. "But they are an eyesore for everyone and can easily get lost, stolen, or broken so we adapted and found another way to channel power. You need three things typically, well two now but at one point it was a staff to channel, a jewel to draw from and collect, and a blade to end it all."

"You don't have any of those though, do you? You were found with just what they told you to wear and what powers you had in you. They didn't..."

"You need to be a necromancer to even know what to do with those three let alone wield them for their intended purpose but no, never had a staff for obvious and previously listed reasons. My blade is kept hidden until I need it which thus far I haven't, as for the jewel...that's hidden elsewhere as well." I stopped at a fanart pic of a necromancer wearing all three items in an over the top armored black robe surrounded by bones. "Well that's just pretentious. Who goes around wearing everything they need to gain the upper hand out for all to see?"

"What about that one? I could see you wearing that," Loki purred, pointing to one necromancer woman wearing a cloak and more or less a black leather bikini while raising a skull above her.

"I bet you could, I wouldn't be caught living in that, nice try."

"Alright, we're here as requested, everyone out of my jet," Clint called back to us.

I opened my mouth to point out it was once again Tony's plane but Loki just held up a hand and shook his head, sometimes it was better to just roll with it. "You've damaged his ego enough, let him dream a little." The plane landed in a park that had been conveniently shut off from the public, probably Tony's doing and we hopped out. I took one long deep breath and smiled at scent of fresh salty sea air and a little bit more. Loki stepped out behind me, in his ironically all black suit in place of armor or leisure robes but he didn't seem to stick out in them, just rocked them like a death metal band, hardcore. 

"You feel that?" I murmured under my breath so Clint wouldn't know what we were talking to.

"You're right, there is something otherworldly about this place, something strong but subtle."

"Alright you two, I'll be watching you but won't get in your way unless I have to, go and explore Salem," Clint informed us.

I grinned and lead Loki into the heart of witch city. I took him to all my favorite little shops, both the tourist traps and the legit ones where wiccan things are sold, to some of the museums, explained more of the city's history and how it became a safe haven for those with magic in their blood. Eventually we stopped by where the final resting place of the victims were, the memorial stones that often had fresh flowers resting on so they'd never be forgotten. It was empty beside myself, Loki, and the dead so I dropped to my knees then in front of the small stone gated graveyard, my hands digging into the ground to feel for any unrest and breathed out. Let those who linger rest easy and those with unrest tell me how I can help. My eyes shot open completely white as the unquiet spirits came forward. I could feel Loki watching me from where he stood some feet back but kept my attention to the unseen souls asking for peace. When I did all I could for them, my eyes faded back to their normal murky color and I slowly stood up and brushed myself off, signalling Loki to walk over and beside me.

"All of these people were innocent?" he asked me quietly.

"This wasn't about actual magic, this was about fear and power, this is what you get when you mix religion and politics, the innocent burn while the guilty rises."

"And now people celebrate here what their ancestors were accused of."

"I like to think of it as saying fuck you, we are the children of witches you didn't burn."

"Brilliant," he breathed out. "You're right, I do like this place already."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right, the sooner you accept it, the happier we'll both be for it."

Loki chuckled but didn't disagree. "When did you find out about this place?"

"As a kid, everyone's taught about the Salem Witch Trials in school, we were then driven there for a field trip like this to see for ourselves. There's many places of magic in America, but this is my absolute favorite place ever. This is my home." I paused mid stroll, took a deep breath in, closed my eyes and opened my arms, welcoming the wonders of witch city.

"Do you hear a high pitched squealing noise?" murmured Loki while watching me embrace my inner witch.

I didn't get a chance to reply as I was suddenly knocked several feet to the side and off my own feet by a pair of boobs with arms attached them engulfing me. "You're alive!" a familiar voice cried in joy.

"Not for much longer if you keep that up," I grumbled, stumbling back onto my feet and straightening up to meet a more familiar face. I was then hugged again and then roughly shaken around almost angrily. "Not everything you love is a fucking cocktail, stop shaking me!"

"Where the hell have you been, woman? We all thought you were killed off or burnt yourself out like the ones that went missing! You left without warning, no calls, no texts, not even a damned email I would've accepted, not a damned thing!" the tall Louisianan woman shaking me around exclaimed.

"Would you believe I was away on business?"

"Your business is here, try again."

"Attacked by ninjas?"

"This ain't feudal Japan."

"Chuck Norris with a bbgun?"

She just glared at me with her hands on her hips tapping a foot impatiently.

"Hydra got me midflight back home."

"Fo realz? How'd they know?"

"Someone had to have tipped them off, I used my aliases the entire time, kept low profile, all that jazz."

She had to sigh and drop the frown in acceptance and squeezed me hard again. "It has been soooo boring without you causing trouble around here, are you back for good?"

I picked up the frown she dropped and shook my head sadly. "Day trip, didn't get out of Hydra on my own, out of the fire and into the frying pan."

"By who?"

I glance back at Loki who was closely watching the two of us, not sure if she was friend or foe to him and the team. "Avengers plus one."

"So that's why it's been boring, you took all the fun with you and didn't think to share, as always."

"Bitch I ain't your source of entertainment, get your own damn rescue team."

"Sharing is caring."

"Do you see the care on my face?"

"I missed your face, can you believe that? I got addicted to IZombie just so I could see someone that looked like you."

"Not the first show I got you hooked on, I regret nothing there."

"Your face though..." she now turned her attention to the god watching from the sidelines. "You're not from around these parts, are you?"

"Where I'm from has been completely destroyed," he replied stiffly.

"Didn't you try to take New York City ages back?"

Before Loki could defend himself, I decided to step in. "Let she who is without a body count, cast the first stone."

"What? I'm not judging, I don't like NYC either but you are the same guy right? God of mischief and alien invasions?"

"I might be," Loki spoke up. "And who are you that seems to know Nell so well."

"I'm her best friend, Zari."

Something clicked in my head about what she said moment earlier then and before more introductions were made, I spoke up. "Hold up, they burnt out?"

Zari blinked and recalled what I brought up and arched an eyebrow. "When they were found they were shells and around their remains was all dead, that has to be it, they burnt out like overrused acid leaking batteries."

"All of the missing?" I murmured.

"All except you...what are you thinking?"

"My zombie senses are tingling. This doesn't feel like a coincidence, that's doesn't feel like an accident either. How many of us are left?"

"A fourth of what we started as."

"We're becoming an endangered species."

"You always wanted to be a tiger as a kid, now you got something in common with them besides a body count."

I scowled or attempted to, I did love tigers after all. "Hunted to near extinction wasn't what I had in mind."

She snickered and glanced at the amused god before returning her attention back to me. "So here for today at least, you show him all the cool places I hope."

I pretended to look offended and held a hand to my chest. "It's like you don't know me at all."

"Either way, there's a few places you missed that I'm sure you'd love to see," she nudged me with a wicked look in her eyes and I instantly knew what she meant.

"By all means, lead the way."

She took us to a small cafe she worked at that actually had a hidden passage way underneath the kitchen and leading to the Hawthorne Hotel, away from Clint's prying eyes for once so we all settled down in a nice suite permanently reserved under Zari's name. There we caught up and explained stuff to Loki we trusted him but not the Avengers with...for reasons. Zari was actually more a witch or voodoo priestess, not as powerful or naturally gifted as a necromancer but still pretty damn dangerous with her own form of death magic.

"Barton probably called in the cavalry in our absence," Loki muttered. "We should return to the open before the Avengers ruin the day again."

"We probably should, would hate for them to ruin my happy place. We should go somewhere public and totally open so they look like idiots before they yell at us though," I suggested.

"That can be arranged easy enough, well done. Zari, it has been a pleasure."

"Look after her, Loki. And Nell...don't let the bastards get you down," she reminded me.

I grinned. "Nevah." I took Loki's outstretched hand once more and green mist swirled around us before we popped up by a bench looking out at the sea by the Waterfront Hotel. I smiled again and didn't let go of his hand, I could feel the ocean then, feel the sun, the sea, everything that drew me to it before I died. "Some day," I murmured.

Loki gave my hand a squeeze and didn't let go as well but kissed the top of it. "I'll make sure of it. Here they come."

Right on cue, Clint followed by Nat and slightly annoyed Steve jogged over to us, all looking different shades of unhappy. We both turned and looked at them innocently while Clint breathed a sign of relief, Nat just rolled her eyes at us, but of course the do-gooder Steve looked like a father about to reprimand his child for sneaking out the window after being grounded.

"You know, while we were hunting you down, I gotta say, this place has its charms," Nat noted.

"Of course it does, can't be a witch without some," I informed her. "Who here likes seafood?"

Steve opened his mouth most likely to lecture me on staying in sight but bless Clint for thinking with his stomach after a long boring day of watching me and Loki frolic around town. His hand shot up almost as fast as his arrows shoot forward so I led the little team to the Oyster Bar by the Waterfront. "Ah food, my second favorite four letter F word."

Eventually it was time to return to homebase as the gang led us back to the jet and I found myself surprisingly worn out from the day of fun, leaning against Loki on the ride back. I found myself too tired to walk out myself when we landed and Loki immediately scooped me up and carried me out of the jet and into the main building himself. My eyes got heavier each second but somehow I could still hear what was going on.

"Clint tells me he lost sight of you two for a bit, you care to explain that?" Tony was demanding.

"Do I care to? Not really since you asked. He got distracted by one of the local performing street witches most likely, did you know theres one going around in full witch garb on rollerblades? Very amusing to say the least," Loki replied smoothly.

"Oh I'm aware Salem is full of weirdoes."

"Which is exactly why you weren't invited, you boring old fart," I muttered, burying my head against Loki's chest to try and drown out their voices only for Loki to laugh against me.

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady," mused Tony. "I'll have you know I've been voted the world's most interesting man many times."

"And Trump's been voted for president, votes here don't mean shit so you're bragging rights right now are kinda in the crapper."

"Go back to sleep."

I turned to face him in Loki's arms just to stick my tongue out but curled back into Loki after. "Have a good night, don't let the zombies bite."


	6. The Plot Thickens

"Loki, have you seen Nell, she's not in her room," a voice on the outside of Loki's room called in, waking me up from my much needed sleep curled up next to him.

"Tell him I'm not here," I whispered.

"You know he could just have that automated voice system Friday tell him you're here," Loki mused next to, already wide awake and apparently reading something while he waited for me to wake.

I groaned and buried myself deeper under the covers. "No Nell esta aqui!"

"As far as I'm aware, no one here is Hispanic, especially not Loki, nice try though," Tony responded.

"Chingate," I cursed and begrudingly pulled myself up into a sitting position. "Whaddaya want?"

"Breakfast is ready, I'm told you favor pancakes which lucky for you are the main dish so hurry up before Thor and Clint eat them all."

"Pancakes you say?" I perked up, "Why didn't you start with that?" I didn't even care that I couldn't find my own shirt as I grabbed one of Loki's long green ones that sufficiently covered what I didn't feel like flashing to the team. Loki himself grabbing a tunic and leisure pants before leading me out of his room to where the smell of much needed food teased my senses. I could feel at least one pair of eyes on me and what I was wearing and all I did in turn was arch an eyebrow in challenge.

"Getting a bit cozy with Loki, I see," mused Nat, offering me bacon as I snatched a stack of pancakes.

I shrugged and drenched everything in maple syrup. "I've only known him less than a week and if anything were to happen to him, I'd kill everyone in this building and then myself."

Tony choked on his screwdriver drink while Nat just laughed at my declaration. "Is that even possible? I mean I looked at your dna samples and you weren't wrong, it matches a dead body's sample exactly, nothing to suggest it came from someone that can still walk and think and live. You can't kill something already dead."

"Medically speaking, you are correct, but they say there's more than one way to skin a rabbit."

"I thought it was a cat," Clint piped up.

"No one's skinning cats as long as I'm still moving."

"So how does one end something already dead?" Tony spoke up.

"For most things you simply destroy it, just remember, what is dead can never die."

"Settle down there, Yara," teased Clint.

"Go on and make me, Euron," I retorted.

"Why am I Euron?"

"Theon wouldn't treat me that way."

"How many of you necromancers are there?" interrupted Tony.

"Not as much as there were before I was caught," I replied glumly. "We're becoming the next Siberian tigers, if we reach white rhino status we're fucked."

"Is it just the ability to cheat death and create your own army that would make you a good hunting target?"

I shrugged and finished my breakfast. "They certainly have a certain appeal, could be any number of reasons why we're sought after."

"You said nothing would come of them taking stuff from you, I'm just thinking, if I couldn't steal what makes you a necromancer to use myself, my next plan of action would be to somehow make you do it for me since the power stays in you and only you."

I arched an eyebrow, not a bad point there. I looked over at Loki who was probably thinking the same thing.

"Your friend said they were found as husks, shells empty of everything. Do you think they did that on purpose or maybe were forced into it?" he asked me quietly.

"That makes more sense than the theory I came up with before where they burnt themselves out to make them inaccessible even in death. They could've just gutted themselves with their blades to do that."

"Hydra are many things," noted Nat. "And mess many things up, but they know how to make a person bend to their will."

"I know about Steve's super soldier boyfriend, Bucky and how he was brainwashed by them. I don't know if that would work on us, if it's how I think they do it, it wouldn't work on me."

"How do you think they do it?"

"Rewrite your past in your mind so the memories that come up are edited to fit them as the good guys and their enemies as the bad guys."

"And that won't work because..."

"A lot of my past has already been erased from me, it was part of a deal to gain more power, I had to sacrifice something of myself to get it. I don't remember any of my family, they in turn don't know I even exist, they can't be used against me if we don't know each other. Imagine the bad guys finding my mom and threatening to kill her and we just look at each other like we literally just met, kinda kills the mood...pun intended."

"So brainwashing is more or less out of the equation then. Would there be another way to control a necromancer?"

"It would depend on the necromancer I guess. One thing I can tell you though is that no matter what you do to us to make us bend, the dead don't have to listen or respond. You also need to have a lot of power to make the dead do your bidding if they don't want to. For instance, if you were in a Jewish community and asked if anyone wants to fuck up some Neo Nazis, you'd have an army larger than China. But if you were in say Texas and asked who wants to march for the Pride Parade and fight for equal rights, you'd have barely enough corpses to make a difference and youd need more power, more effort to raise more when they've already voted no."

"You're saying they aren't just mindless corpses doing what they're told then," Nat spoke up.

"The living are far better puppets than the dead, its all about physics here, a body alive, in motion can keep going in motion in any direction, a body in rest prefers to stay in rest." That's when something clicked in my head again. "That's why they were burnt out dead, they were forced to do what Hydra wants but none of the dead wanted to follow..."

"Hydra as I understand them, don't usually take no for an answer and probably just made the necromancers suffer more till they were all used up. Did they do anything like that to you?" Loki asked.

"They seemed to think pain was the best way to break me, no one else thought to ask nicely in the five fucking years they had me."

"They had you for five years but you mentioned to Strange that there were missing ones before you were even caught. To me that sounds like they gave up on using up necromancers that didn't give them the results they wanted and focused on you and how to get you to do their will since you didn't burn out like the others."

That for some reason gave me chills. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Oh and once again I've become the sloppy second. What else is new? There's still the issue of a turncoat among them too. I told one person I would be flying back from England, I didn't even tell her which airline or what time it landed so in the extremely unlikely event she was the rat that sold me out, she still wouldn't have known where to find me. Someone had to have kept tabs on me or my aliases and sold me out and I want to know who."

"Could it have been another necromancer? Someone that wants you out of the group or jealous of your power?" offered Loki beside me.

"Outing another death mage isn't unheard of but its usually downhill for the rat bastard that does it. The dead are always watching, if they see something unfavorable like a backstabbing they'll be less likely to follow the one with the knife which means more effort is needed to get an army going. You need to have a lot of strength and power to force your will upon things that would rather stay still than help you. Imagine trying to wake up a hungover teenager for school who's clearly not over their rebellious streak and has no friends to look forward to there. Then amplify that by like a 100. Necromancy is a natural form of magic and to wield any kind of magic there must be a flow to it, natural magic requires you go with the flow rather than force it the way you want it to work."

"So whoever did it to you, they are either pretty strong or pretty worn out and probably not in the habit of wielding their magic unless necessary."

"Could be either or, I might be among the most powerful but that doesn't mean everyone else is at level one here, hell they could even be my level in the time ive been locked away, lots can happen in five years."

"How does one get to your level exactly?"

"There's certain tests you need to pass with flying colors, a sacrifice to prove you're all or nothing for it, the bigger and more meaningful the sacrifice the more power you're likely to get."

"Who or what determines all this? You make it sound like you don't just get it yourself."

"I didn't and I can't answer that question either, it disturbs the natural order. If you don't know then you aren't meant to know unless something decides otherwise."

Everyone including Loki was quiet for a moment, absorbing what I had told them before Tony spoke up. "What kinda tests?"

"A situation or scenario happens that determines if you can handle yourself and your surroundings, you don't know its a test until probably much later if at all but it happens regardless. You can't prepare for it either, either accept or fail."

"Are people just randomly chosen or is there some sort of telltale sign?" asked Nat suddenly more interested.

"You ever see things, hear things as a kid, things you were certain of being there but no one believed you when you told them?"

She was silent for a moment, probably attempting to recall that far back before shaking her head. "Not that I can recall."

"Then probably not for you, it starts with being an open mind and a clean slate as a kid and not letting anything or anyone put doubt in you. That's the problem though init, a child sees a sad wailing women at the foot of her bed and usually they go running to their parents in fear, parents come in, say theres nothing there because most of the time adults can't see them regardless and eventually the child starts to listen to their parents over the clearly upset woman that just wants to be listened to herself. Tony probably isn't compatible, those with too much knowledge leave little room for the possible but improbable, scientists usually are."

"What about your lover beside you?" asked Tony. "A god itself is possible but improbable and he wields magic as well."

I turned to Loki curiously. "What did you see when we were fighting Hydra the other day?"

"What you mortals would call zombies? What else would I see?"

I studied him for a moment, curious if he was bluffing or not as he was still very much a God of Lies. "You might be a wildcard on this. You sure that's all you saw?" He nodded stiffly. "Tell me if that changes at any point."

"What else would he have seen?" asked Nat.

I beckoned her to come closer and leaned into her ear. "The dead comes in more than one form, spirits are always nearby, everyone has a few at least. Victims, loved ones, depends on the person."

"What was he supposed to see then?"

"They told me to take his hand when he put himself between me and Strange and they collected the spirit of an agent that almost shot me down on the battlefield."

"They can do that?" she asked louder and pulling away from me.

"If poltergeists can wreak havoc in someone's home, a bunch of vengeful spirits can get even with the one that outed them first."

"Why wouldn't they do that beforehand though?"

"They didn't have me."

"You give them their vengeance," Tony started.

"I give them what would bring them peace, they linger as their bodies rot for a reason. The sad wailing woman isn't whining for attention like some teenage drama queen, she's hurt and needs closure. The ghosts linger because there's unfinished business and I'm their business woman for the job, except unlike the psychics and mediums of today's age, I do it for free and not for entertainment purposes."

"So if someone got wind you can commune with the dead and wanted to know something about their deceased what would you do?"

"Tell em to bugger off unless in that moment their deceased makes an entrance, I'll relay a message only that person would've known about and then tell em to bugger off and let the dead rest. They'll get the same kind of response as a misogynistic man telling me to smile, I'm not here for your entertainment so you can kiss the southbound end of a northbound horse."


	7. Ain't Nothing But a Horned God

"You know, super strength and natural parkour aside, that kid is really living up to his second identity," I mused as Peter popped in right after Loki and I got dressed in our daywear clothes and were about to binge watch the Orville.

"Why do you say that?" Loki asked, eyeing Peter as well.

"If you get rid spiders the humane way and just release them into the wild again, they will still find their way back in. Hand me that newspaper over here, I can fix that."

"I thought you said he was cute, isn't that a term of endearment?" he teased.

"He lost that effect when he killed the mood I was about to build up here. The fuck you want, kid?" I barked at the energetic idiot Tony loved so much.

"Mr. Stark's not here?" Peter squeaked.

"Hell if I know, ask Friday or better yet, beat it."

My trying to get rid of the kid seemed to somehow have the exact opposite effect I had hoped for, not unlike when a person that can't deal with cats walks into a room with one in it, that cat will instantly greet the hapless person and never leave them alone. Peter apparently grew a pair and turned his attention on me specifically, seeing as he apparently had met Loki while I was in captivity.

"So you're one the team now, huh? Where you from?"

I blinked at his sudden confidence. "Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin," I sang the old tune of my town.

"Where's that?"

"Near Salem," murmured Loki beside me. "No wonder you wanted to go there yesterday, you were homesick."

"You've been in my position before I'm told so I'm guessing you know how I felt."

"Why didn't you just say so?"

"That would mean admitting I actually feel things and I'm not one to catch feels here, gross."

"Have you got a superhero name yet?" asked Peter eagerly.

"I'd have to be a hero first for that to work and I'd rather not."

"Why not, its the funnest! Get to meet all kinds of people and everything!"

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "That's supposed to convince me? Really? Tony told me you were clever too, Loki you're the god of lies, how could you let that slide? I hate people, if anything that'd push me toward antihero or even villain. Kill em all and then add em to the undead army, who's with me?!"

"You said so yourself that would take a lot of energy and convincing to make your victims part of your army," mused Loki.

"Sshh, he doesn't know that. Why are you still here if Tony's gone?" I asked Peter.

"He told me I'm welcome to hang out with the team in his absence," Peter replied confidently. "What were you two doing before I got here?"

"Having passionate s/m sex in every room we can get into, you look a bit too young to join but you're welcome to watch," I teased.

"No one gets to watch that," Loki stated stiffly. "That's for our eyes only. Don't you have homework that needs doing about this time?"

"All finished, Aunt May says I can't go out and be Spiderman till its done. Hey, Mr. Loki, Tony says you're not actually from Asgard but a planet of frost giants, is that true?"

"How astute of him to bring that up," grumbled Loki. "Yes, what of it?"

"What do Frost Giants look like?"

"Pete, hun, you don't go asking gods questions like that," I warned the kid, seeing Loki get all tense and serious. "Didn't your aunt ever tell you to stop sticking your nose in places it's likely to get broken in?"

Loki however had other thoughts though didn't look too pleased in acting on them as his once fair skin started to turn blue, green eyes became red and curious markings formed on his head and face. Peter looked absolutely excited being the obnoxiously curious kid he was but made no move nor questions and just tried to his best not to piss off the god while studying him at the same time. I however couldn't help but reach over to touch his face though he caught my wrist.

"You'll burn with frost bite if you touch a frost giant or one touches you."

"Sweety you are touching me," I noted. "My flesh is dead, hydra already tried extreme temps on me, no sweat."

He quickly let go despite my reassurance in fear he was freezing me with his touch, a blackened handprint remained where he held me for a moment before my necro-magic healed it and I was back to simply being a reanimated walking dead girl. I gently touched his face, my thumb brushing over the markings.

"People seem to think red eyes always means evil here," I mused. "Yet theres a fuckton of superheroes wearing red elsewhere, Tony, this little arachnid that needs to be swatted with a newspaper, Thor's cape. Red doesn't mean evil, it means power, anyone wearing red is displaying a power move."

"You don't wear it," Loki told me.

"Weren't you listening during my many rants? I don't make a habit of displaying what I'm capable of, that totally gives me away before I can even attack. It's all about subtlety, something spiderling here needs to work on before asking gods sensitive questions." I glared at the kid who had the grace to look a little ashamed, it was almost cute. At that point, just for funsies, I snatched the newspaper on the coffee table, quickly rolled it up and started smacking the poor boy with it. "Bad spider!" Peter made little move to defend himself though didn't seem too bothered by being whacked by a dead woman either.

"Don't break him or Tony will kick you out," Loki warned though I could tell he was just as amused by my antics as I was smacking around Peter.

"Dude can catch a bus with his bare hands while some people can barely catch them on their feet, he's fine. Ain'tcha kiddo."

"Stop calling me kid, I'm a teenager," mumbled Peter.

"Which is just another term for a kid that thinks they're an adult so really you're not helping your case here. It's adorable how easy it is for you to dig your own grave, even if it with a beach shovel."

"Maybe he's more likely to break you if you keep teasing him," Loki noted.

I arched an eyebrow at him. "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

At the reference, Peter seemed to perk up again. "You've seen those movies?"

"Sweety, I might have been locked up for 5 years but even I know that everyone's seen at least one of them that's still alive."

"Why were you locked up, are you a criminal?"

"What did I tell you about asking sensitive questions, Loki, give me back my spider smasher."

"She was kept by Hydra, no you will not be beating on Tony's favorite project, especially not when there's surveilance everywhere in the tower."

I rolled my eyes at Loki and glared at him. "Meaniepants."

"Do all necromancers look like you?" Peter piped up.

My glare shifted to him then. "Look like me? You really wanna go there? I might be dead but I can still kick your ass, Spiderboy."

"It's spiderman," he grumbled.

"Not with that attitude it ain't."

He shot a web at me angrily and while I knew he never actually meant any harm and I wasn't quick enough to dodge it, I really hated spiderwebs since the first time I walked into one face first, unable to see it. Death magic rushed to the spot he hit me and essentially dissolved/rotted away whatever the hell the webs were made of so they fell apart and off me. Loki looked at me curiously while Peter looked just a little bit horrified. "Try that again, Pete, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker." My eyes went white while blackened veins popped up around them. That got Peter more than horrified and he backed away with repetitive squeaky apologies. Seeing as he got the message, my face relaxed back to its normalness. "I fucking hate spiderwebs."

"I'm curious, if that was an enemy in front of you and not Peter, what would you have done?" asked Loki.

I turned over to the god and smirked maniacally. "Point me in the direction of one and you might find out."

"You didn't do this when we raided the Hydra base the second time."

"They weren't enemies, they're minions of them. Peter you're really cute but your curiosity is harshing my buzz here, lay off on the sugar and either buzz off or calmly wait for Tony to return. You're like ice cream to me right now, so good but so not worth the brain-freeze it comes with."

"If you're always getting a brain-freeze then you're eating it wrong," countered Peter smugly.

"There's hardly a wrong way to eat ice cream, kiddo."

"Um yeah there is, any way that's not right from a cone. Surely you jest."

"Prefer it with a spoon so I don't make a bigger mess of myself than I already do...and don't call me Shirely."

"Call me biased but I believe the spoon is the better option if we're talking the same food she was wolfing down right after she moved here," Loki noted. "I can't imagine a better way to eat it out of its original tub."

"Plus you can fend off intruders and late night food thieves with a spoon, kinda defenseless since you'd eat the cone after and then you got nothing but a sticky mess to contend with," I added.

"Hold up, that was you that ate my moosetracks ice cream?" Peter squeaked.

"Tony said he bought it and therefore it was his ice cream but he also said his helado es mi helado so not yours at all. Also Thor was the one that finished it because unlike some other Asgardians, he asked nicely."

Loki scoffed and playfully glared at me with crossed arms. "I do and take what I want, there's no need for formalities." His response was a well aimed throw pillow to the face because why else would you call them throw pillows if not for their intended purpose? "Are you sure you want to do that, love?"

"Am I sure? Kinda late to be asking that after the fact, init? But seeing as it already happened, I'm gonna go with yes I am, whatcha gonna do about it?"

"I have to ask if you're sure you wanna challenge the God of Mischief like that?" Peter asked me worriedly.

"Firstly, what's with people asking me if I'm sure, of the three of us which one here is still a virgin and learning the ropes of kicking ass and taking names? Secondly, if you're calling him that based solely on Norse Mythology he's also the goddess of eight legged foals and father of a world ending snake and thus far the only thing close to those myths is the bigass snake in his pants but that's none of my business." 

Loki looked beyond amused at me both calling him out on his mythology and representation of it and that not so subtle compliment that may or may not have boosted his ego to the size of Yggdrasil and all the nine realms combined. "While I'm pleased with the last statement about me, I can very much assure I'm the master of mischief, that much of the myth is 100 percent true, Thor can attest to that and any surviving Asgardians besides him that know of me."

"Just because you are known for something specific does not make you the master of it. By that logic, I'm the Goddess of Zombies."

"Hela beat you to that by at least a thousand years," Loki argued.

I glared at my lover and eyed the nearest throw pillow in contemplation, maybe I should hold it against his face gently and then apply pressure. "Sure, if there really was just one realm of gods to go with that might work in your favor."

"What do you believe in then? Where does your faith lie if not in yourself?" he challenged.

"In my life, in my experience and in my line of work there is only kind of gods I follow in faith and those are the gods of death."

Whether he caught onto it or knew my line of thought somehow or not, I couldnt tell but his next response was damn near perfect. "And what do you pray to the gods of death."

I grinned wickedly. "Not today, bitch." 

"I'm hurt you wouldn't consider praying for me on your knees," purred Loki.

"The only way to get me on my knees is by taking away what keeps me standing and at the moment you've become my reason to stand these days," I replied smoothly, catching him off guard with the claim of more mortal devotion. "Would think that's obvious considering I come alive at your touch."

We stared at each other for a long silent moment, Loki looking somewhere between admiration and something else I couldn't quite place, his eyes shining like freshly cut and polished emeralds. He also looked torn between wanting to shove me against the nearest wall and makeout or reply with a smoother, wittier comeback because this dude was as desperate to have me as he was to have the last word and prove he was the master of mischief. Men in a nutshell, doesn't matter where they're from or how hard they are to kill. Speaking of things hard to kill, the arachnaboy was still present in the room, watching the two of us verbally spar/flirt before something apparently clicked in his head and he frowned, turning toward me.

"H-how exactly would you know if I was a virgin or not?"

I cackled at his attempt to call me out and act at least a little more confident. "Elementary my dear Parker. Besides the fact you both look and act a day before you're legally of age in this country? It might have something to do with your reaction to Loki's pants snake- there it is! You look different shades of uncomfortable hearing about just the size of someone's dong. Guys usually are either confident with what they got or pretend they are long enough to snag someone to use it on and hope for the best...There's also the fact regardless of age and powers you're radiating with life unsullied, I can sense it on you. Lemme know when you are legal and I might be able to help you with that though." I winked at him, causing yet another priceless reaction from Peter and a scowl from Loki.

"I'm not overly fond of sharing."

"Don't knock til you tried it, besides, I could be six fix under by the time he's open for business, right Pete?" I nudged the poor kid with an elbow for good measure, it was too much fun messing with him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just getting so many mixed signals from you right now I gotta sit down and um wait for Mr. Stark."

I watched the kid scoot away to another room, leaving us alone for once and I grinned and relaxed, turning my attention back to Loki. "And that is how you get rid of a spider properly, if you can't kill it, make it wish it never came in."

"That whole charade was to scare him off?" asked Loki incredulously.

"He's just so precious and innocent, his ears must be burning from the naughty stuff by now. I mean yeah, if he was legal I still wouldn't mind corrupting him physically but I doubt he's got the stones to take me up on that should I be around then. Besides, there's more than one way to sacrificing a virgin these days, isn't that what you gods demand all the time?"

"I'd rather just take you on the sacrificial altar several times over till I'm the only god that can give you what you pray for," he growled.

I blinked in surprised, he was usually a little more clever and subtle in his suggestions and I somehow activated the animal in him with my incessant sexual teasing between him and Peter. "Would the couch do? I don't think the coffee table would survive despite it being solid mahogany." An uncharacteristic squeal of surprise escaped me as his response was a low growl followed closely by a master of mischief pouncing on me.


	8. Fear The Reaper

To say Loki was a complicated demi god, would be more of an understatement than saying Tony Stark is a decent techie or engineer. He had more facets than the world's most perfectly cut diamond and more layers than an ogre made of onions. Lucky for me, the first few layers were just leather and metal and some really fancy fabric from a destroyed planet/realm. He wasn't kidding about the not sharing part either, in that he became not so much overly possessive per say but he was prepared to let the multiverse know no one could have me but him. Case and point, propping himself up and over me, an arm on either side of my head almost as if he was using himself to keep me in and others out. There was also love bites in several very visible spots I didn't have the heart to tell him would heal before I would leave the bedroom we ended up in. He paused between kisses he stole from me to watch me intently below him and lifted one hand up to cup my face, tilting a bit so his eyes met my heavily lidded ones. "No matter how much death comes for me, I still want more."

I chuckled at his blatant pun. "We could keep going but I think at some point you'd be pegged a necrophiliac."

"Isn't that how most people want to go out, death by violently passionate love?" he purred. "Am I too much for you then, love?"

I snickered at the challenge. "Heavens to murgatroid no, not a bad way to go though, you're right on that."

"Then pray tell, why the pause? You shouldn't be thinking as hard as I feel right now."

"I'd have more energy if certain polarities were reversed."

It was his turn to pause then as he was trying to figure out what I was getting at. "My magic is making you more mortal than necessary, but wouldn't changing that make you numb again?"

"I told you I can still feel extremes normally, not when you're switching me back to life."

"Why do I feel like there's another reason you want to do that?"

Damn him and his clever mischievous natural scheming detector. "What other reason could there be?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he dropped his head to bury itself in my neck, finding the sweet spot and sucking, nipping on it till I squirmed under him.

"I've had you as an Asgardian god, now I wanna try a Frost Giant."

"Ever the curious creature you are. You sure you want this, the effects could be dangerous."

"What? Like frostbite? That's just flesh dying of the cold, I'm already dead, no biggie. Stop asking if I'm sure, you glorified smurf." And suddenly emeralds turned to glittering rubies and the room became much cooler. I reached up with both hands and pulled his head to mine, kissing him passionately, the cold never bothered me anyway.

"You two are worse than bunnies," Tony commented much later while we were all in one of his meeting rooms for the next mission.

"Says the man that used to take a different woman home every other night," Loki quipped.

"We'd be worse than bunnies if I was prego right now but literally nothing is alive in me so your argument is invalid," I told Tony. "Bunnies aren't that great to begin with anyway, oh sure they look all cute and fuzzy but they poop everywhere, aren't great housepets and die quite easy in extreme tempts which is unfortunately the kind of temps New England is known for. Great waste of fluff and space bunnies."

Everyone in the meeting room turned to me then with different expressions but the same basic principle of "wtf" about my little rant.

"What kind of pets do you like then?" asked Clint.

"Cats. Mostly self sufficient, don't need to be constantly cared for, don't hog the bed when they want cuddles, what more can you want in a pet. Anyway, why are we all here? You interrupted my naptime."

"Spoken like a true cat person," mused Tony. "Seems there's some undead activity nearby that requires our attention."

"Don't look at me, they only come when I ask."

"Which means that there's another necromancer around that's not playing by the rules you do."

"Well you know how it is, suddenly you have the power to raise an army and it gets to your head. In an unrelated story, beheading works best in stopping power hungry necromancers."

"Does shooting the head work the same or do we have to actually separate the skull from the body?" asked Steve.

"Afraid to get a little messy, Steve-o? You're dealing with monsters here, you're gonna get messy or you're next."

"Did you just threaten Captain America?" asked Tony in mock shock. "I'm liking you more and more."

I smirked. "Depending on the level of power they have, even the most lethal of shots or slashes can heal if its clean. Loki, a dagger please?" Loki straightened an arm and one slid out of his sleeve and into an open palm which he then handed to me almost uncertainly. I took the blade and slid it against my wrist as an example. For a moment blackened blood oozes out of the cut before it sealed itself back up and the blood was absorbed back into my body. "If clean wounds are all you know, I strongly suggest any number of horror films with gore and violence warnings on the rating for ideas."

"I'm sorry I'm slightly confused here, earlier you were telling us how there's so few of you guys left yet here you are telling us how to cut you down more..." Clint spoke up.

"There's two types of necromancers, those that do their job and those that steal from the honeypot, I don't care about the latter, they disrupt the natural order we're meant to abide by. If that means we reach white rhino status, then so be it, I can live with that."

"Remind us again what white rhino status means?" asked Steve.

"You can count how many of those beasties are in existence today on one hand and still have a few free fingers, they've been hunted by poachers for their horn to near extinction and the few left are now under armed guards to ensure that doesn't happen."

"I've got a question about dead animals," Tony spoke up. "Have you tried raising them?"

"They've been on this planet a lot longer than we have and we cause them enough grief destroying it and them along with it, I leave them alone as they deserve to rest more than we do."

"What about dinosaurs, think of what you could do with your own T-rex," Clint noted.

"Ok firstly there's an entire franchise of movies explaining exactly why it's a terrible idea to resurrect dinosaurs, i mean their name even means terrible lizard. Secondly there wouldn't be much left of them to resurrect, they're millions of years old and there's a reason we only see casts and not the actual bones of them. They're brittle as fuck, the actual bones are kept in a temperature controlled vault in a basement somewhere. Sure, it would look cool as hell having an army of angry monster skeletons behind you but the second they get close to the enemy, they're literally dust. Nice try though."

"So just stick to humans then," Tony noted.

"Fuck yeah."

"So you couldn't resurrect someone old enough, say George Washington?" Clint asked.

"Putting aside the fact that every single person that knows about him or seen his portraits remembers him as a stiff stoic and heroic first president and bringing back a grinning corpse because if there's anything left of him still hanging around its gonna be bones and tattered clothes aka nightmare fuel. It also takes a lot more effort to bring back moldy oldies because not only would they have probably been at peace in their final resting place a lot longer and don't wanna go back to the fucked up world we made it in their absence, theres a lot more effort in putting them together before they rise. Any other erroneous questions and misconceptions?"

"I've got one," Tony piped up. "You've said you only feel extremes most of the time and I'm curious, can you taste pain too? I'm convinced you're actually Liv Moore under an alias."

"She couldn't control other zombies, just support and help them survive the human population that didn't like them. I could stomach a lot of spices when I was still human I think, so I can only assume I'd be ok now, why?"

"Ever had a Carolina Reaper?"

"You've been dying to challenge someone on that haven't you, pun intended."

"What's a Carolina Reaper?" Loki murmured beside me.

"One of the most painfully edible things ever bred," Clint answered for me.

"If it's so painful, why eat it then, food's meant to be enjoyed."

"Some people don't taste the pain, they taste the spice, the heat and that's what they want. So I highly recommend you don't try what I'm about to do. Tony, I accept your challenge...I'd smack you with a gauntlet but this is the 21st century," I replied.

"Why shouldn't I try this reaper, I'm a god you dead creature."

"God or not, you are a Frost Giant and this food is barely edible fire, you will be one of the reasons it's called a reaper and I'm not sure I want to bring you back to life, I only ever resurrect mortals." Tony handed me one of the bright red peppers, a whole one, not something seasoned with a reaper, not a slice, a whole fucking pepper. I took it carefully, touching as little as possible in the event I needed to rub my eyes after this ordeal and examined it curiously. "Well, it was nice knowing you all, Loki, if I don't make it back, avenge me, you have my blessing." I looked Tony in the eyes and took all but the stem and leaves in my mouth before biting down.

"How exactly does this pepper kill someone though?" Loki asked while watching me.

"The spiciness irritates the inside of your mouth so much that it inflames it, causing you to choke and suffocate essentially while you're sweating like you've run a marathon through hell so not only are you essentially becoming dehydrated but you're oxygen is cut off," explained Tony.

I chewed the evil pepper and all at once it was like eating a piece of hell itself, my entire body felt like it was on fire, not just my mouth and I had to shut my eyes to swallow like a frog, my whole body going stiff from the pain, and slammed a fist down on the meeting table before finally getting rid of it in my stomach. "That's a spicy meatball-a," I stated in a horrible Italian accent. "Anyone else wanna try food from hell? Where's Thor, he's always up for doing stupid shit like this."

Loki snorted unceremoniously. "Off playing hero somewhere or making sure his people don't get into more trouble than he does, no doubt. Give me one."

"You can try a slice of Jalapeno before you play with the big guns."

"Are you actually denying the god of mischief some fun?" Clint asked me.

It was my turn to snort. "I've given him more fun in bed than he'd find from anyone else on this planet, what I'm doing is making sure he doesn't die from a dumb challenge. The only thing missing from this redneck fun is someone saying hold my beer."

"That's because my brother is elsewhere," replied Loki. "I'll have your Holopino."

Tony disappeared to the nearest kitchen and then returned with chips and Jalapeno dip with actual slices mixed into the cheesy goodness. "You're not lactose intolerant are you?"

"I highly doubt that's actual cheese and not the processed american cheese most cheese dips here are made of," I noted. 

Loki took a chip and pretty much coated the entire piece in the dip then shoved it in his mouth all at once. He didn't break out in a sweat like most weak stomached people would but then maybe Frost Giants don't do that, he also didn't choke or spit it out and managed to swallow the whole thing without complaint though he was a master of lies for a reason, his poker face was second to none. "On the scale of pain, where is the Holopino?"

"It's one of the least spicy peppers this planet has though still pretty spicy. The seeds of any spicy pepper though are what you want to avoid more than the flesh or juice though you don't want the juice either as that shit can get anywhere, people have gone blind because they got the juice on their hands, didn't wash it off well or at all and then rubbed their eyes for whatever reason. Smart people that cook with spicy peppers wear latex gloves, everyone else tempts fate."

"You're worried something spicy and edible could kill me," he mused.

"Everything is edible once," I retorted. "And there's plenty of edible things that can kill anyone, just add poison, hell we eat at least two kinds of poisonous plants without realizing its potential, potatoes and tomatoes are both belladonnas which is the most poisonous plant this planet has."

"How exactly do you know all that about poisons?" Nat asked.

"Like no one else has ever thought about ways to sneak poison into someone's drink before, if you tell me otherwise then you're a liar. There's a song by my favorite band about slipping cleaning solution into someone's coffee."

"No wonder you two are so close, so much potential to do good but so tempted to do otherwise, meant for each other really," Tony mused.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"We'll see. Now that I had my initial fun though, back to what I called you all here for. We have ourselves a zombie outbreak...never thought I'd say that, but there's a first time for everything. While I get the feeling you could probably handle zombies on your own, this should still be a team effort for damage control and whatnot so everyone suit up and ship out."

I grinned." You heard him, Autobots, let's roll out!"

"Sometimes you're worse than Peter with the pop culture references," muttered Tony.

"Where is the little bug anyway?"

"At school like the good genius he is, it is a week day after all and no longer summer."

"Wait a sec, it's...the fall?" I asked excitedly.

"...Yes?"

I grinned. "Things are starting to turn up Milhouse."

"Why is it a good thing for it to be autumn?" asked Loki as we made our way to the jet thing.

"I'm strongest during that season."

There were definitely zombies afoot, not a whole lot thankfully which usually meant the rogue necromancer that raised them was either doing something small scale or wasn't that much a threat and didn't have the power to raise a full army. Either way sucks to be them. I hung back in the jet as zombies themselves were super easy to handle, it was just a matter of finding the weasel that got them there and dealing with them. Loki hung back as well as you really didn't need god powers to deal with the walking dead, just something to separate the head from the body. So it was basically Clint, Nat, Tony, and America's Ass knocking heads and taking names.

"You think Thor will be pissed he's not part of the party?" I mused to Loki.

The golden god grinned at the thought of his brother being the whiny baby he knew he was. "He did particularly enjoy a similar situation to this one, fighting off the undead, despite losing our home in the end. He's not needed though so he can bloody deal with it."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell him and pretend like nothing's happened that he'd miss." Our eyes met for a moment before we both grinned wickedly. "Nah." I pressed my com out of curiosity to see how things were going outside. "Found the rogue yet?"

"All I see are dead people," came Clint's response first, causing me to crack up at the quote.

"Ha, it's not just me quoting movies now, Tony, check and mate."

"Clint, don't encourage her," grumbled Tony on the com.

"This is way easier than I expected zombies to be, I feel like I'm in a video game and this is like one of the first few levels," Clint stated.

"If the music changes, get ready for the big boss fight," I warned him.

"Anything we should look for in finding said big boss? Features that sets him apart like with you?" asked Nat.

"Only the more advanced look like death for reasons, I highly doubt this one is so look for the one that stationary or moving at a normal pace and not currently rotting at the same time. The zombies are either a distraction or sentinels so go in the opposite direction as them to find the boss. On that note, can I have a go at whoever it is, they're under my department, I feel like I should take some responsibility for it...adulting and what not."

"If there's anything else after we're done, maybe," Tony answered.

"Sharing is caring."

"Good thing I don't care then." 

Another few minutes went by. "You say its easy dealing with zombies yet there's still no progress otherwise, what's going on out there? Has the music changed yet?"

"Still can't find the bastard, even when I switch to heat vision to seek out living from undead it's still all dead things," grumbled Tony. "Are we even sure he's in this area? Maybe this whole thing is a diversion from another place?"

I groaned in frustration and stood up stiffly. "This is taking too long, I'm gonna miss the Farmers Market!" I stormed out of the jet, Loki in tow of course, and walked out into the battlefield, power flowing into my hands before I shot it at every dead body near me still walking that collapsed immediately, the connection from them to their initial power source cut off.

"Nell, what the hell are you doing?" demanded Tony.

"Your job for you, I want a raise after this too." I grabbed hold of a zombie's head without cutting the connection and instead followed the connection to the source while Loki made sure there were no interruptions. "Found em." I cut the connection of that zombie after and had Loki teleport me right to the source which thankfully was still in the area just very well hidden. I let go of Loki's hand from him teleporting us and took a bee line right to the bastard who's back was turned to me. I grabbed him by the head and smashed it against the wall of the building he was hidden in. Thankfully, he was still conscious for me to play with and held his head with a grown before turning around onto his back to face me and the look on his face was just too perfect to post on instagram.

"Nell! Y-you're...you're," he stuttered in terror.

"I'm what?" I growled at him, not wasting any time as I reached down and grabbed him by the shirt, throwing him into another wall and going after him before he could scamper away.

"You're back," he squeaked. "They told me..."

"Who told you?" I demanded, a hand wrapping around his neck tight and holding him hard against the wall behind him.

One hand of his was around the hand around his neck trying to get me off him while I wasn't so blind to not notice the other reaching for something behind his back, a flash of metal telling me exactly what he was planning and even before Loki would take out his own blades, I caught his free hand that held a certain lethal dagger and broke his wrist while my nails dug into his neck so he couldn't catch his dagger as it dropped. I kicked it away from both of us. "You know who I am, then you know what your options are now. Who told you?"

Both his hands were now trying to pry my one off him and I only gave him enough air to speak and not die just yet. "We're either the hunted or the hunters, that's what they told me. They told me your head would be mounted on a wall when they caught you."

I pulled him from the wall only to slam him back against it in rage, he was working for the people, helping them hunt the rest of us, that caught me. "How did they find me?"

"I don't know!" he croaked.

"Try again." Another slam against the wall.

"I swear I don't know! I was told about you after it had already happened!"

"Nell," Steve of all people said suddenly behind me. "He's more useful to us alive."

"I disagree," I growled. "The dead are so much more cooperative."

A new level of fear filled the traitor's face, he definitely knew what his options were now. He looked past me to Loki who was simply watching the whole scene play out without a word or a motion otherwise then to Steve. "Help me! Please!"

"He's not in the business of helping people he's been trying to shut down his entire life," I reminded him coldly.

"Loki, can't you stop this?" Steve asked him.

"I am not her commander nor master, I do not as you would say, call the shots."

"Nell, drop him," Nat came in saying. "I know what you're feeling, I know what you've been through, this isn't the way to handle it."

I vaguely wondered what would happen if I killed the rat in my grasp, would the Avengers come at me, kick me out of the compound? Would I be their next mission? Would Loki come with me or stay with them? That last one got my attention and I glanced back at Loki then and our eyes met. "You aren't my master, but I still need you."

Loki was silent for a moment, taking in the hidden message I hoped his caught from that statement. It probably wasn't fair to make him choose between the ones he had probably sworn to team up with, and some dead chick he just met and banged a bunch but I needed to know who I could trust when my own people were turning on me. "And you have me," he finally responded.

I relaxed the smallest bit at the answer and was about to finish off my prey before Tony in all his armored glory burst in from the ceiling, his iron mask off so he was legit staring me down with his blaster hands poised. "You want answers from him as much as we do, right? We can get more out of him alive when all his nerve endings are still working. I don't want you to be our next big enemy here but if you kill him, you will be, and Hydra will be the least of your worries."

While the threat was barely accurate considering Hydra had more intel than Tony did on us and had a lot more minions to give the intel to, I really didn't want more enemies than I already had. I grumbled in annoyance and threw the rat to Tony then before picking up the dagger that had threatened to kill me for good and examined it, Loki stepping over to me and eyeing the blade curiously. "Did you mean that?" I asked.

"I might be known as the Lord of Lies but I always keep my word."

The rat was grabbed by Tony and surrounded by the other Avengers who guarded and guided him out of the building, Loki and myself taking the tail end. The second the rat stepped outside however, he crumbled with a bullethole in his skull, a larger one as small bullets don't always do the trick with death mages. Clint took out the Hydra sniper instantly without a second thought but the prisoner was already dead. I cackled when Nat took his nonexistent pulse at the pure irony of the situation. "You see what happens, the universe always provides. You had your chance, now it's my turn. You might wanna take the body back first before they actively try to keep it from rising again though."

Tony just frowned at my reaction and shook his head. "You are a piece of work, you know that?"

I grinned and shrugged. "Thought you liked a challenge?"

He just shook his head again. "Not even Loki was this chaotic when he first joined us."

"That's because you forced contraptions on me that dampened my powers till I behaved like you wanted," Loki retorted dryly.

"You put a fucking bark collar on him? He's a god, not a dog, you dyslexic dildo!"

"Whoa, easy there, Night Queen, this is the same guy that tried to take NYC some years back."

I snorted. "Fuck NYC, their sports teams suck and so do they."

Loki took my hand in his and I felt calm suddenly and glanced over at him questionably. "You don't have to defend me, you know?"

"Yeah well, I got my vengeance stolen by the universe just now and nowhere else to direct my rage, so sue me."

"The universe doesn't steal, it takes what belongs to it, therefore you weren't meant to kill him so relax for now," he argued.

I frowned at the questionable but near flawless logic and grumbled under my breath. "Stupid sexy Frost Giant."


	9. Death Becomes Her

"Leave the bullet in, as long as the body is still warm, his parts might still work enough to feel pain so he's gonna feel like he has the worst migraine in the history of brain trauma," I instructed once we returned to homebase and properly secured the body. "I should also tell you since he's already dead, whatever I do to him now doesn't count as being inhumane or cruel because the dead don't count. Yay loopholes!"

"You are far too happy about this whole situation, I'm not sure which is worse, interrogating the dead or getting a second chance to break someone open," Clint told me as he stepped back and locked me in the room where the body was. "I'm surprised Tony agreed to this actually, usually he wants to do all the talking."

"He lacks the whole communing with the deceased thing I got going for me," I replied. "He had his chance to talk to him before the dude was shot." I leaned down to the where the body lay on the exam table, a hand on his chest and whispered in his ear. "Wake up, assbutt, you ain't out yet." His eyes shot open though milky in death and he looked to where I stood and the fear came right back. 

"No," he groaned.

"Oh hell yeah. You're mine now, bitch. You're going to answer my questions and then some of theirs, the nice people that lent me your body, then I'm sending your soul to a good friend of mine that knows what to do with bad seeds like you."

The corpse looked frantically around for an escape but couldn't even sit up as I had full control of what he could do as a zombie, perks of the job.

For emphasis, I pulled on a pair of latex gloves and snapped them against my wrist like an evil nurse. "Better bite the pillow, I'm going in raw. How many are working for Hydra?"

"Five to my knowledge, maybe more since you were caught, we thought with you gone, our survival would be greater on their side."

"If you didn't know how they caught me, who would?"

"I don't know which of the others found out where you were, all I was told was you were contained and out of the equation until they could find a way to use you."

"How long have they known about us?"

"Six years. They spent one year tracking and gathering intel before putting their plans to action which led to you and the ones that perished or joined forces."

Before I could ask another question, the bulletproof glass containing us was tapped and I turned to see Tony waiting on the other side, wanting his turn of course. I leaned in close again and whispered in his ear once more. "You will answer their questions unless it pertains to our origins or to me exclusively at which point I will speed up the rotting inside you till there's nothing left but a shell and your trapped soul inside it. You know me, you know what comes next." I straightened up and took my hand off his chest then waited to be let out of the cell so Tony could go in. "He's all yours."

"He's not gonna try and bite me is he?"

"Only if he's hungry," I joked. "He won't move unless I want him to. I need to blow off some steam, if you need me I'll be around somewhere." I shrugged and walked away from the interrogation though still kept a connection to the prisoner to make sure he didn't spill any secrets between necromancers.

I found myself drawn back to Loki in his room who was currently studying the dagger still, careful not to touch the blade and seemed to not hear me slip into his space. His hands traced the designs on the hilt, his expression mostly blank with the hint of concentration. "Those aren't meant for you," I warned lightly.

Loki spun around and arched an eyebrow at me, locking eyes as he took me in. "I've handled many different knives before."

"Had you taken that one before I got to it, you wouldn't have hands left."

"Then why can I now?"

"I absorbed what would have rotted your hands past the bones, I told you no one outside of necromancers can use our tools."

He looked almost like a kid in trouble for stealing cookies before dinner though still managed to look like he did nothing wrong at the same time. "You seem different than the woman I've known however short that time's been. Why? What's changed?"

He wasn't wrong but I couldn't tell him exactly why I went from laid back to a vengeful bossass bitch. "Things just got personal."

He took a challenging step toward me, much like when he first met me in the glass cage, cautious yet confident. "So the power radiating from you right now, that's always been there?"

"I'm rarely using 100%, what you're feeling is maybe 75% and what I was before that was a static 50% at best. Now you tell me something, is the hunger in your eyes for me or for what I possess?"

"I'm not nor have any intention of owning you and what you are. What use would that be to me what I can't hone myself? If I had wanted it, I wouldn't have set you free like I did, I'd have hid you away still bound in some form and come back when the Avengers weren't looking to have my way with you. Is this because your people are turning on you that you demand such answers from me? You know my history, you know I've been in the same position you are now, betrayed by those closest to me. What you see in my eyes is me being in awe of what you've been hiding this whole time, the lust is more for the woman before me that's proven herself a goddess."

"What should it matter what kind of being I am?"

"It matters when I want you by my side for as long as possible and mere mortals don't last that long," he replied darkly. "I chose you over the Avengers, the people permitting me to stay on this planet and not casting me out like my own people would, given the chance. Why do you think that is? It's not because of what you can do or even what you are. Look into my eyes once more and tell me what you see." Green faded then and crimson took over instantly and I realized this was as close as Loki could probably get to kneeling to me. He hated his true form and allowed me to see it, he was vulnerable then. "Do not take your rage out on me, not that way at least, I told you already I am yours if you'll have me. There is no benefit to lying to you, not then, not now."

I was silent for a moment though never took my eyes off the earthbound Frost Giant in front of me. "So you would've stayed with me if I killed him, even though the Avengers would be after us?"

He scoffed at the question. "Gladly, I would've enjoyed it more leaving them for you than any other reason presented."

"Even if it meant angering Thor."

"For all the times I've saved his life and tried to do right by him, he can seriously go electrocute himself, I'm done trying to impress him, far too old for that." He was back to his Asgardian form then, all green and grand. "Why are you still uncertain of my loyalty?"

"I'm not."

"There's so much rage inside you, I can feel it, is it all from that traitor?"

"Some of it."

His eyes searched for a better answer from me as he was quiet for a moment. "It will fester if you keep that bottled up."

"I wanted to use it on the rat-"

"-But Stark wouldn't let you, I know. There are other ways to cool down and I did say you can have me."

"I feel like a succubus only needing you for sex."

"Give it time, there are other needs too."

"I might break you."

"And I might laugh at your attempt to," he challenged.

That apparently set me off as I lunged at him, closing the distance, shoving him hard back against a wall, connecting our lips hungrily. I shouldn't have been surprised but was still more than happy when it became a sexual battle of dominance between two demi gods, the lights exploding in the room from the clash of power between the two of us.

It ended up being a really steamy makeout session before I calmed down and went back to the laidback chick that had a lot of TV shows to catch up on still. As for the prisoner, I cut the connection once they got out enough from him and he was beheaded and burned right after for good measure. Tony kicked both me and Loki out of the compound for the day, getting sick of us just watching TV and shagging all the time, apparently I had earned enough of his trust not initially killing the rat when I had the chance. It was actually kinda nice to get out and not have to kick ass to get fresh air, any time people stopped at stared at the god that tried to take over their city, they got scared off by the death demi god that either showed her beast mode face or brought up a dead relative that hit too close to home. And then of course there were the creeps that took no notice of the Frost Giant and pestered the quiet girl that hated people.

"You're such a pretty girl, why don't you smile more?" one middle aged man noted while we waited for the train.

"Because it makes your poor wife Alice sad when you're a creep to random women," I replied. "More than she already is from you abusing her children."

The look on the bastard's face was a mix of horror and rage from being called out. "What the hell-?"

"Mary didn't raise you that way either, must be Aaron then or you're just inherently evil without any women witnesses around," I continued. "Hey random question, anyone know the number of the local social workers?"

"You little-!" the man started, advancing on me but Loki stepped in and cut him off, towering over him with a dangerous glint in his eyes while catching his hand before he intended to strike me.

"Think carefully about your next move, if you do anything besides walk away as fast as you can, you should know it took all the Avengers stationed here including the Hulk to take me down and what are you compared to the weakest of them." Loki let him go with a dark glare that was enough to send the man scampering away. "I have to ask, who do you see near me? Victims or loved ones?"

"You sure you wanna know?" I asked.

"Positive."

"She's always there, she says she wished she could've been there to help you when you first came to this city. She knows it wasn't really you that did that and she tried to convince Odin of it before you were sentenced but had no proof, only faith. She told me to take your hand when you put yourself between me and Strange and that I should never doubt your intentions. Lady, that ain't fair, I just met him! She's beautiful though, sucks you're not actually related as then I could see where you got your beauty from."

"Frigga," he murmured and looked so sorrowful I actually thought he was about to cry but seemed to hold it together.

"She says she knows you didn't mean your last words to her before she died, you're her son still and were forgiven already. You will always be her son no matter where you come from or how far you've fallen." I went quiet, watching and listening to the goddess hovering beside Loki. "I'd let you speak to him yourself but I'm not sure I can sustain the spirit of a goddess. No, you're right, better I don't, that might make things weird between us later, there's the whole Oedipus thing too. She wants you to know she's proud of you, despite how far you've fallen you still found the right path to follow in the end." I looked back at Loki then. "She wanted you to know this before she moved on but wouldn't let me tell you till you asked, till you were ready to hear it." I frowned at this, glancing back at the slowly dissipating woman. "Typical mother move, that is. What if we never met, you'd stick to him forever. Takes helicopter parent to a whole new level."

"Noelle," Loki murmured, still solemn, breaking me from thought with the use of my full name. "She would've found a way, a Vanir has her ways."

I snorted and shrugged. "If you say so."

He took my hands in his and looked me in the eyes. "Thank you."

I gave him a lazy grin. "Just doing my job. Glad she's moved on though, what poor soul would wanna be attached to you for eternity."

The sadness in him turned to incredulous. "Just for that remark, I'm going to haunt you into madness should I pass before you do."

I cackled at this. "That's supposed to be a threat? Bitch, I'm a death mage, I can just exorcise your ass back to Valhalla where your mother can deal with you attempting to bother the person that carried out her last wishes."

"You bringing my mother into this just means you can't deal with me yourself," he retorted smugly.

"I shouldn't have to at that point, my job is to make sure you've moved on, you're Valhalla's problem after that. However should I pass first, I can haunt you to madness all I want and you can't do a damned thing about it because there aint much that can shake off an incorporeal necromancer."

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"Baby, you have no idea."


	10. Tricks Are For Gods

"That right there is why guns are a dumb idea against zombies," I pointed out as we all watched one of the zombie movies Tony bought just to debunk for future reference. "Their eyes are shit but they hear just fine and if you want them to stop coming you need a firearm that causes maximum damage."

"But do they run that fast?" asked Clint on the couch adjecent from Loki and me.

"I mean if you really want them to but its like having explosive shits with them, the faster they run the more they fall apart."

A collective groan of disgust came from the other Avengers.

"Ask stupid questions, expect stupid answers. They're rotting corpses, c'mon people."

"IZombie's got a point," Tony agreed. "How was the outside world by the way?"

"I was very disappointed to find out people still royally suck and creeps still roam free unchecked and uncharged for their crimes, what the hell are you lot doing that this is still happening?"

"Dealing with bigger threats with bigger weapons obviously," Tony remarked. "Should I look on the video feed for what you were up to?"

"Nothing illegal, just fought fire with fire and creeped out the creeps of the streets."

"She's very good at it too," added Loki.

Of course that didn't stop Tony from snooping and of course he found footage of me scaring them off. "What did you say to that last guy that made him turn into an angry tomato?"

"Told him his dead mom and wife are ashamed of his existence, which isn't a lie at all, he's kind of a monster."

"What did he say to start this?"

"Told me pretty girls like me should smile more. Maybe I should sharpen my teeth."

"Please don't," Loki spoke up.

"Why not? All the better to eat you with, my dear."

"Can you not ruin my childhood stories please?" moaned Clint.

"Listen, most of them are from horror stories anyway just dumbed down for your innocent ears and eyes."

"Ring around the rosie, for starters. Grimm's fairy tales were all dark, some of the disney movies definitely," Tony agreed.

"Sleeping Beauty was raped in her sleep by the king she later married," I added on. "And girls still wanna be the next disney princess, hard pass there."

"I beg your pardon, what kind of people are you reading these kinds of tales to your children?" Loki demanded.

"Hey don't look at me, I don't even have children, I'm just a fan of horror stories and those popped up."

"What would you read to them if you did though?" asked Nat.

"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, all three of them, don't look at me like that, I raise the dead for a living, my kids need to have nerves of steel just to live with me."

Loki studied me curiously, probably wondering how good or bad a mother I would be if that was possible or maybe what kind of family he envisioned us having if again possible. I turned to catch his eyes with my own and arched an eyebrow.

"Something you wanna share with the class?" I challenged.

"Just pondering a what if future," was his simple response.

"Don't strain yourself." A couch pillow was his response to my quip that had everyone kind of staring in shock at his childish but very amusing reaction. "That's real cute but unfortunately for you I'm gonna have to kill you now, eat feathers you glorified smurf!"

"This better not lead to what it usually leads to when one of you pounces on the other, what if Peter walks in? His innocent eyes!" cried Tony.

"He's a teenager, he's probably seen better porn than us at some point on the interwebs," I stated while beating an amused god with a throw pillow.

"Better porn? Is there such a thing?" asked Steve.

"Rule 34 hun, if it exists there's a porn for it, if it doesn't then there will be." And with that I continued to beat my lover with a pillow to the head.

"Free porn aside, I'm actually kinda curious who would win in a fight now, you or Loki," Clint mused.

We both stopped pummeling each other and looked at him then each other curiously. "With or without magic?" Loki asked.

"Without, just close range hand to hand or with blades if you must," Nat added.

My gaze went to her with an arched eyebrow. "Ya'll thinking about this?" A collective nod from the rest of the group was my answer before I returned my gaze to Loki. "What's your vote on this?"

"I'm all for it if you are."

You would think he'd go for the knives or rather the sticks that substituted knives but nope, ever the man of mischief, he chose the bo staff. Thor would later tell me its because while he favors knives as they're easy to hide and stash away, Loki had much better luck with staves. I found out quite quickly how right that was. While I was no Michelle Yeoh, I did take martial arts even before I became a leader of undead battles as children are merciless and if they decide you're a freak they make you a target. Just outside the training area of the compound stood the not busy Avengers and not surprisingly Tony was already placing bets on who would win, hell I knew who would win, the one that's probably been training and fighting for half a millennia at least. But as a wise cigar smoking Goth dad once said, just because it's a bad idea doesn't mean it won't be a good time. I chose a different kind of bo staff, if the weapon worked for the Buddhist monks, it would work for me, right? Loki was very much like a cat or maybe he just was with me, stalking his prey, pacing, biding his time, calculating his moves whereas after being obsessed with old timey wushu movies at one point, I opted for a simple nonthreatening stance resembling Wong Fei-Hung, a ruse as I couldn't fight off 10 men or so with a bo staff like the legend did but no one had to know that. One foot forward, one perpendicular in a short fighting stance, staff held behind me with one hand, the shaft pressed against the arm, the other arm stretched out in front of me beckoning him forward. Most people would think twirling it a bit is the typical first move but that's more to show off or intimidate the opponent and I'm not the show off type, especially if I'm not the best at what I'm showing off. Loki moved first though, lunging and thrusting one end of his staff at my head, I easily side stepped it, , my head tilting away but my eyes never leaving his. I figure if I couldn't wear him out despite him being ancient compared to me, and I couldn't outright beat him in strength, I could probably just frustrate the hell out of him by never letting him land a hit. Getting under people's skin was my specialty after all. So that's what it was like for the beginning, letting him attack first and either simply dodging his staff or blocking it with my own staff.

"This is boring, make a move, Aang!" called Tony from the sidelines.

"Hey, he was the best Avatar in the series, and he kicked ass!" I called back.

"Then why don't you?"

"Patience is a virtue, old Stark!"

"You say old like you're not sleeping with the oldest person in the building!"

I snorted and blocked Loki's staff once more. "You're only as old as you act, grandpa." I watched Loki carefully, waiting for the opportune moment when he thought he could let his guard down believing I wasn't gonna go batshit crazy on him.

He sped up his attacks, probably thinking I'd step into action if I was being rushed but I still kept my leisure defense up, he tried a few more changing tactics to try to get me to strike back first before I saw the sign I was waiting for the whole time and forced myself to keep the poker face I wore, resisting the urge to smirk wickedly as he seemed to relax and go back to simply trying to hit me anyway he thought was an opening. I blocked his staff once more as he went for my stomach then quick as a whip swung mine to strike his knee, stomach, and head and he went down. The utter look of shock on his face was more than enough to make me break my expression into one of pure wickedness, a canary eating grin cracking through. The game had begun. He quickly got back to his feet and lunged at me again with his staff, no longer holding back as he whipped the ends at me one after another, the only sounds now were that of wood hitting wood and the shuffling of our feet as we went at each other. Several times he left himself wide open when he was swinging his staff behind and around him to hit me from another side which was amusing because although kinda cool looking and showy, he was totally exposed and I took full advantage of that hitting him in the stomach and causing him to drop his staff mid-swing though he was quick enough to catch one end and come down at me with the other. I raised my staff to block it and shifted my upper strength to hold him off while pulling apart my staff which was actually a two piece one almost seamlessly held together and struck him in the ribs with the other piece. He glared at me, the god of tricks being tricked in a fight by some dead chick he only met recently.

"Clever girl," he growled at me.

I grinned wider. "Give up, or are you thirsty for more?"

"Very well, you asked for it."

Somehow it didn't click in my head that being a god and all, he not only had enhanced strength but apparently speed too as me verbally challenging him and getting extra sneaky had me suddenly and swiftly struck several times in the stomach and side, my feet swept out from under me, and I was on back with one end of a bo staff pointed at my head.

"Isn't this a familiar position?" he purred above me, his eyes glittering.

I held back a retort in order to roll over to avoid his staff and then lock my legs on either side of one of his then roll again, knocking him to the ground as well and making him drop his staff again. I wasted no time in getting on top of him and still holding onto my two pieces of my staff the entire time, i crossed them against his throat. "Prefer this position myself."

"I'll have to remember that later." He raised his arms to his head while still on the ground in what I thought was him surrendering but quicker than a cheetah, snatched back his bo staff and swung, knocking me off him and making me drop both pieces he was just as quick to kick away from me before pinning me to the floor, a knee against each of my arms and the shaft of his staff against my throat. "The things I could do to you in this position."

"Pretty sure you've already done them and I recall you not wanting others to see us doing them."

He smirked but made no move whatsoever from where he knelt on top of me. "Don't act like you're not thinking what I'm thinking."

"Oh that's no secret here but I'd prefer it in the bedroom where there's soundproof walls and there's other options to keep me in place the whole time."

Both his eyebrows shot up at what was implied there. "I can arrange that. For now though, I'm not moving till you say the words."

I rolled my eyes but sighed in defeat. "I yield."

"Good girl." He got off me and offered me his hand to help me up which I took easily and was yanked up and flush against him, a hungry, hot kiss stolen from me. "We should do this again sometime," he breathed in my ear.

"We'll see." I nipped his earlobe teasingly before shoving him away and walking out of the training arena. 

"Does everything have to be sexual between you two?" asked Tony.

"Listen, if you were cut off from all forms of pleasure for as long as I have and suddenly are given the ultimate form of it after, you'd take it with a smile too, as many times as you can."

"I'm the ultimate form, am I?" teased Loki behind me.

"Don't let that get to your head or your excessively ornate helmet won't fit on you anymore," I retorted. "And it really brings the whole outfit together."

"I was under the impression you liked me more without an outfit."

I shrugged innocently. "A woman can change her mind."

"Am I going to have to separate you two or something?" Tony interrupted.

"I mean you could just let me go home..."

"Tempting but till our mutual enemies are out of the equation, I don't see that happening."

"Well then, I'll have to refer you to the three T's."

"The three T's?" 

"Tough titties, Tony." I grabbed Loki's hand and poof we were gone.


	11. Tell-Tale Hearts

"You've been holding out on me," Loki noted later.

"We've not known each other long and there's just some things you don't need to know, besides, I'm sure there's lots I don't know about the trickster god." We were currently taking a stroll through the nearest park to get some fresh air and out of Tony's hair.

"Not if Thor has anything to say about it," Loki muttered. "If I won't tell you, he probably will, especially after you introduced him to moosetracks, he probably believes he's in debt to you for allowing him the last bit."

"Yeah but like he's never around so I'll still get nothing on you."

"What I don't get is why you don't seem to use those skills you used on me in the battlefield?"

I snorted. "What? Bo staff fighting? It's a pacifist weapon unless you're really motivated and skilled and aint nobody got time for that."

"I mean close range combat."

"Why do something yourself when you can get an army to do that for less?"

He scowled at me but couldn't come up with anything to rebuke that. "I hate your logic."

"But you love me so it all works out in the end." I stopped walking and kicked off my shoes to expose bare feet despite it behind in the 50's, feeling for the dead beneath the earth as well as just enjoying the feeling of nature against my flesh.

"Is that so?" he challenged, studying my actions as I stood still, eyes slightly closed to block out distractions aside from him.

"Typically people, gods or not, don't go through measures to protect their live-in booty call, not to mention you pretty much swearing yourself to me a few days ago. Just because I was on a warpath, doesn't mean I'm gonna forget what you said once I calmed down."

"And you have experience in this area, do you?"

I opened my eyes to meet his, turning to him out of curiosity and while his tone was light and teasing I could tell from his expression he genuinely wanted to know my history there. "Does it matter?"

"I just want to know if there's another man out there that death comes for?"

"What if I told you it was a woman?" I teased, cackling when his eyes widened at my response. "Many women actually at one point, since you asked. I told you, I'm all about ultimate pleasures, they're all that's keeping me from going numb and truly dead. Much like Tony before he decided to stick to the one under his nose the entire time."

"What changed?"

"Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Sorry, couldn't resist. Many things changed but long story short, things got complicated and I couldn't keep burying myself in boobs to stay alive when I wasn't really alive at all and that much closer to the grave. At the moment though, there is only you. Nothing compares to you. Is that why green is such a good color on you, because you're always jealous of something...or someone?"

He scoffed at my attempt to throw shade at him. "No other color does me justice aside from gold and while I am royalty, I'm not nearly that pretentious like my adoptive father wearing just gold."

I tried to imagine him in just gold attire and wrinkled my nose at the mental image. "Valid point there, I wouldn't fall for you in just that either, not that much of a golddigger."

"Though something tells me you have a soft spot for immortals of sorts."

I smirked and shrugged. "Something like that."

"You don't have what you midgardians call 'a crush' on Thor, do you?"

"I'm not overly fond of the facial fuzz among other things."

"What other immortals besides me then?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." 

Loki scowled at me. "Stop teasing me, woman."

"Nah, where's the fun in that?" I walked to the pond in the park and stepped into the water, not bothered by the coldness of it as my feet sunk into the earth more. So much death and decay underneath the life on the surface, the dead would always outnumber the living, it was such a waste without necromancers recycling the bodies. And we were fast becoming an endangered species which meant even more bodies left to rot away. And there were still so many souls with unfinished business that deserved to rest but couldn't till they got their last fight in. I shut my eyes, listening to them, watching them, offering them a chance when I could, they needed peace but to do that, they had to join another war. Strange how you needed the opposite of something to achieve something sometimes. "There's so many of you, take care who you choose to follow, I'd hate to have to send you back without getting what you need from them."

"Nell," Loki spoke softly with uncertainty.

"The dead," I responded. "This planet is full of them and I don't want them in the wrong hands."

"You worry about the dead like normal midgardians worry about the living, regardless of their current status you can't protect them all."

"And that's the side effects of being what I am, there's always a catch isnt there? Sure they no longer feel pain in their rotting meat suits but they're souls, beautiful burning souls that need peace at the end of the day."

"What happens to the soul in the wrong hands?"

"They're collected, contained and used as a weapon against others. I told you, souls are nuclear reactors, a dangerous power source that can be super destructive to others and itself."

"Is it difficult for others like yourself to get a hold on them?"

"Depends on how strong they are and how powerful their powers have become." I opened my eyes and turned around to face him, walking out of the water and placing a hand on his chest, for some reason I always got a bit excited feeling his heartbeat. I didn't take my eyes off his. "You have to be quick and careful, reaching in to grab something that could potentially kill you just by touching it. You're also a bit exposed yourself being in such close range to your prey and while simply holding it is the worst form of pain imaginable to the person you're grabbing, they usually survive simply being held so if you want the job done, you gotta rip it right out of them but that exposes its raw power as a soul. Not many necromancers can hold onto an exposed soul without side effects that may include their own death."

"Have you ever done it yourself?"

"Once or twice ages back, I won't be making a habit of it though."

"What were the side effects then?"

"Took too long disposing the damned thing and sorta kinda leveled the building we were in as well as nearly blowing myself up in the process. Worth it though, that was one bad egg I won't lose sleep over destroying without peace. May have lost a bit of myself in the process too."

"In what way?"

"You'll find out if I can get to the other bad eggs of necromancy before the Avengers do, easier to show you than tell you. I'll give you a hint though." I stepped back, dropping my hand from his chest to take his and put it on mine. "What do you feel?"

He was quiet for a second, his eyes not leaving mine. "There's no heartbeat, I knew that already. But there's something there, isn't there? You told me the magic keeps you moving, is it that?"

"It's more than magic. What is it you told me at one point? Someone that can survive something likely to kill most virtually unscathed is the definition of immortal. Very few necromancers can survive handling an exposed soul that's bursting but no one should be able to survive that plus a crumbling building and no escape routes and I did both."

He was quiet, almost mesmerized by what he was feeling beneath the undead flesh. "It's ancient. But it can't be-"

"Not an infinity stone," I assured him. "We have no need for those, we have our own stones of power to use how we please."

He stared deep into my eyes once he realized what I hinted at. "It's in there, isn't it?"

"It's part of me, yes. Fused to my soul so no one can rip it out of me, wasn't my idea initially, I opted for having it broken into shards and then have them implanted throughout my body but apparently I had no say in the matter."

"What about that necromancer you got to before? Where was his jewel?"

"The dagger, pretty common tactic for the lesser ones like him, keep the tools together like that. I absorbed it when I first picked it up, it's why it would've eaten away at you if you got to it first, only necromancers can handle their own tools."

"But they can't get yours?"

"Two highly destructive almost unlimited power sources fused together, no one on this planet could even touch it without instantly blowing themselves up, let alone ripping it out."

"If it wasn't your idea to do that, then whose was it?"

"Uh uh, spoilers."

He frowned and his hand moved from my chest to cup the side of my face. "Troublesome woman."

"You love it."

A smirk tugged at his lips as his tilted my head up and dipped his head to snag a kiss from me. "So what if I do?"

"Then someone went to Oz and got themselves a heart," I teased.

He pulled me against him and shut me up with a hotter, longer kiss. Away from the Avengers, away from Hydra and everything that was causing me a massive headache, and as close to nature and what I love as I was allowed while still under house arrest more or less. This was my tiny slice of paradise and peace before it would most likely all go to shit.


	12. Chapter 12

They say people love and choose to accept life while fear death because life is a beautiful lie while death is the painful truth. In theory that's true although death itself isn't painful, only the transition to it is which means it's actually life that's painful, you don't feel much of anything when you're dead...unless you're me. Loki was a beautiful master of lies himself but was accepted and loved by few, while I was a pain in the ass necromancer that ruled the dead, so in a way we were stark opposites, our magic/power cancelled each other out in a way. We did have a few things in common though, betrayed by our own people, demi-gods, a fondness for daggers. I sometimes wondered just what he saw in me though, a quiet tall, ever observing man like himself going for the unquiet undead zombie queen. It couldn't just be the great sex or what we have in common though. He seemed far too clever to go for that alone. Then I wondered what his reaction would be when he really sees what I am, what I can do. Would he be afraid, intrigued? He rarely showed any fear, curiosity definitely, and caution, but he was probably trained his whole life to never show fear or weakness no matter what he was faced with.

I studied his face when he thought I wasn't looking while we stood in the park and enjoyed the tranquility. He told me stories of Asgard, the golden city, the glorious realm, things he missed terribly that unfortunately my realm couldn't compare. He spoke of other realms his brother, their friends, and he were sent "to keep the peace" which really meant beat the living shit out of till they surrendered and followed Odin's rule. The more he spoke of his past, the more I came to see just how and why he loathed his father so much, the guy, god or not, was a massive bully and I hated those cretins.

"Thor says its not a place but a people and the people there sound like they royally suck, pun intended, so if you think about it, Asgard wasn't really your home if you didn't feel all that welcomed there. Home is where the cuddles are."

"Are you trying to convince me you're my home now?" he asked in amusement.

"Is it working?" I replied hopefully.

He paused during our stroll and opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out as his expression of mirth turned to caution. "Do you hear that?"

I blinked and listened and if I could feel the cold again, I'd probably have goosebumbs, there wasn't a sound in the park, no bird, no barks of dogs being walked, no people talking or leaves rustling. "My zombie senses are tingling." Utter silence was completely unnatural, even when there wasn't a soul in sight.

Loki must have sensed something because he suddenly spun around, his back to me and seemed to use himself as a shield once more before his body went rigid then twitchy in front of me as he fell. I dropped to my knees by his side, his veins bulging, his face contorting in agony and I saw something small and metallic attached to his neck and put two and two together.

"The voltage will go up before you can touch it," a new voice warned me.

I didn't move from where I knelt but narrowed my eyes and looked for the owner of the voice that jumped from a tree to the ground. A hydra agent judging by the symbol on his otherwise blank black uniform. Others appeared from their own hiding spot.

"Do as I say and his blood won't boil and fry him alive from the electrical shocks."

My eyes went to Loki's though rage boiled my own blood at a bunch of asshats knocking down my god so easily. He couldn't even nod let alone talk but his eyes seemed to say enough to make me do as they said. I looked back to the man with the machine gun and narrowed my eyes.

"Stand up slowly, hands where we can see them and don't move unless we tell you. Boys, search her for any arcane weaponry."

I did as commanded and stood up and was immediately surrounded and padded down for anything which I almost found amusing as I was the weapon, why would I carry more?

"Nothing, sir," one reported.

I smirked at this, not taking my eyes off the commander who glared hard at me. He walked over to me, probably thinking he was safe if I was unarmed, and grabbed me by the throat.

"Tell me where they are or I'll crush your windpipe."

"You know what I'm not doing? I'm not using my windpipe," I hissed. "What is dead can never die."

He squeezed harder before letting go but didn't back down. "Lock em both up separately, if I can't break you, I'll break him and make you watch. Make sure they're not being watched either, we wouldn't want to have a tail."

They cuffed Loki from where he lay stiff on the ground and muzzled him as well like they had with me, then turned down the metal patch on his neck so he could at least stand for himself before forcing him away from me as I let myself be cuffed as well though they didn't bother with the muzzle on me this time, I was already too pissed for words anyway. We were led to a super shady looking armored truck, the commander sitting across from me, hands not leaving his firearm.

"They told me you couldn't be broken, they showed me recordings of what they tried on you and how you'd just smile or mock them when they stuck you full of blades and experiments."

"I've been told they tried that on me for five years...you know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Your scientists are actually legit mad, not just evil, have fun with that."

"Oh don't worry about that, if we can't do it to you, we'll do it to someone less immune to our methods." He glanced over at the silently fuming god at the other end of the truck.

"You think this is the first time someone I love has been used against me that I'd just roll with your punches?" I asked incredulously. "Or is it because you people are terrible at judgments of character that think I've been alone till him? Did the ones you roped into your mess tell you about me? I mean really tell you about me? Did they explain why I don't feel physical pain? Why I can't be killed? Or are you the type to just go in guns blazing and skip the questions entirely till someone drops dead?" 

"They told me enough."

"If that were true, you wouldn't be doing this, you'd drop this entire mission of yours and leave the necromancy to the few of us left that haven't changed sides. Because if you did know enough about me...you'd run and you'd sleep with one eye opened till I drag your soul to hell and use your empty skull for a cereal bowl."

"You really think that will scare me?"

"I work at a screampark, I know full well what makes even the toughest soldiers tremble, if you break him, you're next."

"You're in no position to threaten me."

"You sure? The way I see it, you need me more than I need you. You think by torturing him that I'll comply when you're only really giving me that much more reason to tear you apart, your actions are the tinder on which you burn. Then again by killing the others and attempting to break me before this, you got my attention so either way you're still fucked. I'm in every position to threaten you and so much more."

The truck stopped before he could retort and we could hear even more soldiers coming to the truck, no doubt to make sure we don't do anything against them or escape. We were led out and Loki was steered away from me and my line of sight while the commander and his team led me in the opposite direction elsewhere into the building that looked perfectly normal, nothing fancy, nothing suspicious, didn't even look abandoned like some hideouts were, people in business suits and briefcases were coming and going while I was being led in by the team. As I was being walked down to the basement I spotted another traitor I knew personally and stopped suddenly, not caring that I was completely surrounded and tapped on the glass wall separating him and the people he was working with from me. He turned around and went pale while I grinned maniacally. "Hiya Georgie!" I then let the team drag me away, I had left my mark on him, he knew what would happen the second I got free and found him. I was led to a large control type room with giant glass container filling up about half of it, a control panel on one side most likely for whatever's being contained. A middle aged man with scars distorting his face wearing an expensive business suit stood at the center of the room along with two scientists in lab coats and clipboards. He turned when he heard me walk in with the team and set his sights on me before glancing at the commander.

"Ah good, you caught her again, let's hope we have better luck and results this time around. My name is Dr. Feist, I'm the head of this operation and you are Noelle, are you not? The infamous necromancer that leveled an entire building without needing any explosives."

"And yet you thought it smart to bring me into another building?" I questioned.

"Well yes, we couldn't do any of this out in the open where we can be repeatedly interrupted by your new friends and if you try anything we don't want you to do well..." he snapped his fingers and the door to the glass cell opened up and Loki was suddenly thrown into it, the door sealing shut behind him as he got to his feet and bright abnormal looking lights clicked on in the cell.

I glanced at the panel controlling the room and back at Loki as he looked around attempting to get a bearing on his surroundings while the lights got brighter and I suddenly realized what was going on as he seemed to almost wilt where he stood before sitting down on the built in bench. They essentially put him into a small greenhouse, melting the Frost Giant. 

"How long do you think he'll last in there?" Feist continued. "His people couldn't survive outside their own frozen planet without the casket of ancient winters I'm told."

My eyes didn't leave Loki as his normally stiff, proper posture seemed to deflate with the rising heat in the room, he looked tired, worn down, like it was a struggle just to sit and stay awake for him. "What do you want?"

"Every necromancer carries a blade and a stone, where are yours?"

"They already searched me, but you'll have to take me out to dinner before you can strip me yourself."

"Then where if not on your person?"

"Where only I alone can get to it, but I'm sure you already know what happens when someone not marked tries to play with things that aren't theirs."

"Clever lady. You're right, we can't touch them, that's why we brought in people who can."

I snickered at this. "The others you either bribed or threatened to join forces with? Let them try."

"Well since you don't have those things we were hoping for, we'll find other uses for you while we have you. Put her in the other holding cell for now while we dig deeper."

I was led away from the controls and down to the level where Loki was kept to another cell but before they could shove me in, I bolted to Loki's desperately and pressed my hands against the glass between us. He saw me despite the heavy eyelids and it damn near broke my heart seeing him look so weak as he held a hand up to match mine against the glass. Our eyes met once more before I was forced away and locked in.


	13. Monster Madness

"How the mighty have fallen," a voice woke me up some time later.

I opened my eyes to see another familiar face and grinned wickedly. "Finally, a reason to rip you apart after all this time."

The woman on the other side of the glass smirked at me and crossed her hands over her chest in defiance. "I'd like to see you try."

"Then I'll save the plucking of your eyes for last just so you can," I sneered.

She looked me once over and shook her head. "You still don't look a day over expired last month. I don't know what the man behind me sees in you."

"That's the best you got? What are you? Fifteen? You think I care about how I look at this stage in my life? I can understand why you do though, you still age, how's that going for you? The crow's feet, the weak bones, the sagging boobs, sometimes it's good to be dead than to be you."

The dark haired, skinny bitch of a woman in front of me glared furiously at my deflection of her insults. "They should've put the muzzle back on you instead of him."

I glanced past her at Loki who still had the muzzle and cuffs on but looked slightly better than before, the lights weren't as bright as when I last saw him and I inwardly relaxed, as long as he was still kicking so would I. "Tough titties, toots. How else will your new friends get answers out of me? Or did you forget to use your head on this like you always do? That's why you can't raise an army, zombies only want someone with brains."

She made a move to lunge at the cell but was stopped by Feist clearing his throat from the deck above the cells. "No attacking the guest of honor, Alicia."

"Especially when she can snap you in half like the twig you are," I added. "Of the two of us, which do you think they'll show mercy to in the end? The one that follows or the one that betrays?"

She scoffed at my warning. "They won't do a damned thing, they don't trouble themselves in our affairs."

"Of course not, but tell me something, how do you think I got where I am and none of y'all can ever top me? How do you think I got my immortality exactly?" I stood up and walked toward her slowly with whitened eyes and pressed myself against the glass. Power surged through me, causing any machinery near me to go berserk, sparking and malfunctioning as alarms went off and my arm shot through the glass holding me in and reached for her soul and a bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat simply by me holding onto it while her body went rigid from the pain. "Look at me now and tell me I'm on the short end of the stick here." I let go of her however when I could hear a thump from behind her despite her loud and earpiercing screams and saw Loki on his knees in his cell, hands pressed against the glass in an effort to stay up. I took one step back despite the fact the glass cell I was in was pretty much useless now, Alicia dropping to the floor hard but unfortunately still alive. As soon as she could grasp her surroundings however, she no longer held any confidence or smugness, only fear when she looked at me.

"What are you?" she gasped.

"I'm the boogeyman of monsters and the nightmare of gods and you'll just be another soul to eat when this is over. You want to send in another lackey for me to play with, that's on you for thinking she'd ever play nice, you didn't do your research on that one," I stated the last bit to the leader of the base that was still watching. "Or maybe you are and just wanted to see what I can do when provoked but don't want me thinking I can get away with it even when it's what you want. That's it, isn't it? You think you're so clever hiding us away and making someone that matters to me suffer but you mad scientists are all the same, you're just another scared little mortal in a labcoat." I stepped over the broken glass and out of my cell. I looked down at the broken woman that still couldn't stand on her feet after I reached into her. "Walk it off, sweetheart, you ain't special here."

"She is still needed for her abilities as are you, Noelle. I would suggest you stay where you are or your beloved Frost Giant will have a meltdown," the lab rat threatened.

I raised my hands in mock surrender before dropping one hand on wiring to his cell, death magic following it to the lights that exploded in a shower of golden sparks but ultimately no longer emitting heat that was slowly killing Loki. "I warned your top ranking soldier this would happen if you endanger him like this, this is still on you for not listening." I looked back at Loki who was starting to get to his feet, already looking better with the lights off. "Go ahead, make my millennium." 

"She was one of the few here that didn't fear you till now, what did you do that broke her or scared the others?"

"Come closer and I'll show you," I hissed. "Or better yet, send another traitorous necromancer in for me to play with. Two bodies with one stone."

"You're in no position to be making demands here."

I cackled. "The commander said something similar to that, see you're all alike, when you have something original come find me."

"We have you, don't we?"

"I'm here because I let you take me here, don't think for one second this was entirely by your hand, I pretty much just proved you can't contain me, not this time."

At that point, the commander and his team invaded the room Loki and I were held in, all holding rods that could electrocute on contact. They wanted me alive after all, even though guns didn't do shit, they used them to kill with and didn't want me dead. 

"I'm not really a fan of shock therapy."

"The others told me you're just as dead as your army and electricity does marvelous things to the dead, some would say it can wake them with the right voltage," Feist was saying.

"Did you get that from Mary Shelley? Because you totally missed the whole point of the story then, it's not the giant corpse that's the monster but the graverobbing mad scientist that wanted to play God. You're all the same whether its fiction or fact, you all want more than you can possibly hold onto and aren't meant to obtain and in doing so you destroy everything you touch, all in the name of science." I lunged for the commander as he was closest, dodging the lightning rod and snatching a small remote control hanging from his ammo belt and crushing it in one hand. Loki's electro disc thing on his neck fell off as well as his muzzle then while I grabbed another guy's rod from him and gave em a taste of their own medicine, zapping a few before wrapping an arm around one dude's neck and holding him in front of me like a shield.

"You got nowhere to go from here, Noelle. You're completely surrounded, the majority of the people in this building are either HYDRA or your people on our side, you don't even know where we took you, where you are right now. Just give up now and save us all the trouble," Feist called down to me.

"Is that right? You really think that, do you?" I asked incredulously. Death magic gathering in my limbs for my next move. "There's so many things wrong with what you just said, I'm going to start saying Hydra whenever something else is wrong with someone's statement." Machinery all around started glitching as I pushed my power into the electrical lines of the building, my magic couldn't outright kill people but it did kill inanimate things not made of blood and flesh like machinery and things run by electricity. Natural magic as death magic was clashed with manmade things like that.

"Then enlighten me, tell me what's wrong with what I said."

"I'm not trapped in here with y'all...you're all trapped in here with me." A surge of power went through me into the building, causing the lights to either explode like it did in Loki's container or just shut off, computer systems malfunctioned, including the one linked to Loki's cell, sparks flying everywhere, alarms going off. I threw the guy I was using for a shield into the other team members of the commander as a distraction and darted away into the darkness.

"Spread out, she can't have gone far!" the commander shouted above the chaos. "She wouldn't leave Loki behind like that."

He was right, I wasn't leaving without Loki , especially since he had the whole teleportation thing going and I wanted out asap. I waited in the darkness for an agent to get close enough before grabbing him from behind and tearing him apart, his screams and gun going off as he tried to defend himself before going out in a spray of blood. Of course two more team members went to where his body was left but I had moved on to another loan team member. One by one, they went down with blood and bullets everywhere until it was just the commander left.

"Come out and face me, you coward," growled the commander, gun in one hand, hunting knife in the other.

"I'm the coward? Who here needed a team of 6 to try and take down one dead girl? Only cowards use quantity over quality."

He shot where he thought I was according to where he heard my voice but lucky for me, metal and glass make echoes. He kept shooting at where he thought I was till he was right where I wanted him to be.

"Guess again," I hissed in his ear from behind him. He spun around with his knife this time but I had dropped to my knees so his knife went above my head completely and with a knife I snatched from another agent, slashed him deep in the stomach several times, going right through his bulletproof vest and into flesh and guts. He dropped his knife to try and hold in his innards before dropping to his knees and falling to his side right after. I stepped over him to Loki's cage and easily pulled the malfunctioning sliding door open for him, grabbing hold of his cuffs as he stepped toward me that released him instantly from my touch.

"You're covered in blood," he noted once he got a good look at me in the darkness.

"You're welcome," I replied dryly. "Can you get us out of here before the backup generators kick in?"

"Where do you have in mind?"

"Hawthorne Hotel, might be a bit obvious for the Avengers but it's all I can think of."

"Done." He took my hand in his and right as more agents and the first necromancer I saw coming in here came running in to surround us, green magic swirled around Loki and me and we were suddenly where I belonged.


	14. Witch, Please

We didn't actually arrive at the Hotel, but by the piers where you can tour the old pirate ship near several restaurants and another hotel entirely overlooking the ocean. Loki stood in front of me, looking down worriedly at me the entire time.

"None of it's my own," I assured him, getting the feeling he was looking for injuries.

"You can't blame me for wanting to be sure, I don't think I've really seen you fighting without an army of your own to even the odds."

"I didn't survive as long as I have only to be outed by a bunch of power hungry humans. I'm ok, really, just really sticky and in need of a nap. Are you ok though? You had worse luck than I did back there."

"Not the first time I've been electrocuted unfortunately, not that it's something I can really get used to but I'll manage just fine, never you worry."

I snorted at the last bit. "You know, for someone that's been around since the dawn of man and takes after his mother, you should know it's not wise telling another woman not to worry, we'll do just the opposite anyway."

"You never seem worried though."

I shrugged. "I try not to but I'm still a woman with a soul at the end of the day."

"You're so much more than that," he murmured.

"You are ok though, right?" I asked again. "It wasn't just electric shocks they used on you."

"Extreme heat, yes, I know. I probably won't be at my best for a bit, but like I said I'll manage. Thank you though."

I smiled lazily. "You protected me when you could when we weren't even that close, it's the least I could do seeing as you wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for me."

"How did they catch you last time if you could so easily break out this time?"

"In the middle of a plane ride surrounded by innocent people. If I'm not on the ground, I can't raise the dead as they aren't airborne...things. They highjacked the plane with their own jets, took me off the one I was on and into theirs and before I could even try to escape, they bound me in more or less what you saw me in when you broke me out. Maybe next time I want to get out of the country, I'll go by cruise ship, lots more dead in the sea."

"You could also just ask me to take you," he suggested smoothly.

I grinned at this. "Mischief has many uses. I'd kiss you but I doubt you'd be turned on by this much blood, you don't strike me as a horror fan."

"There's people that are fans of gore?"

"Sweety, there's people who are fans of everything and anything, we live in a sick, twisted world of which there is no cure for."

"Except there is in fact a bunch of people called The Cure," a familiar voice interrupted.

We both turned to see Zari standing there, hands on hips, and giving us an unamused look. 

"What took you so long?"

"Alicia turned sides, I had to give her my vote, George also. I don't know who else but there's gotta be a bigger player than those pawns."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Does it matter, you're still the biggest player of the board."

"That makes it my job to wipe it clean and correct it. Only problem they sided with people that pop up all over out of nowhere, I mean they literally came out of trees catching me the second time, the first time was out of air."

"Then if they want you two again, they gotta come to your turf, our turf even where they can't and won't catch you off guard, where everyone still on our side will see them coming and be ready. Isn't that why you're here?"

"No? I came here because I just wanted to be somewhere familiar and empowering to me, regardless of where I just came from, I missed home."

"Aw hun," she pulled me into a sticky hug then pulled away and peeled me off her. "Let's get you both cleaned up and away from the public for a bit, come, there's plenty of room in my home for two demi gods to crash."

Her cottage was just as I remembered, smelling of herbs and spices both locally and Lousiana grown, charms all over the place for protection and blessing, she was a basic witch after all, although an extremely powerful one as a voodoo priestess. She also provided me with new clothes once I was completely clean of blood and guts, offering to get Loki some clothes as well though he just did his magically changing thing but rather than just changing clothes, not wanting to be tracked facially by Tony, he turned into a slightly different person altogether. Instead of pale smooth skin, he had slightly tanned skin with some stubble by the jaw, he actually looked more human and less perfect like a god but still damned attractive even as the long black locks became short brown curls and green eyes turned to soft blue. Of course with the human face came the less sharp attire, jeans and a button up polo type shirt. 

"I know you said you don't like facial hair but-" he began as I studied his disguise.

I reached up and stroked one side of his face, feeling the prickles he concocted. "Not bad, it's really just long gross beards I can't stand, stubble ain't a problem."

"What do you think?"

"It's...different. I think while you'll stay off Tony's radar, you'll be on every straight female's radar that sets eyes on you, as a god there was an air of perfection and being untouchable so no one else made a move out of fear, as a human however you're now considered fair game."

"Worried I might be snatched up by a mere mortal?" he teased.

"I'd say over my cold dead body but um that's actually already done so maybe a little?"

"Rest assured, you still have me in every form I come in."

"Interesting choice of words," I mused. "Can you come in that form too?"

He arched an eyebrow at me. "Just how many forms do you want?"

"Listen, buddy, I only ever knew of the two you told me about and now you're in yet another form just as attractive as the others, you can't blame me for being curious here when you chose that one yourself."

"I still hate your logic."

"And still love me so once more it all works out."

"Should we still call you Loki even though you're in disguise?" asked Zari, coming into the living room we were in with a tray of food and hot apple cidar.

"Kinda blows the cover there when there's ears and eyes and social media everywhere these days," I muttered.

"What's a good normal name here that doesn't sound too extravagant or outlandish?" Loki asked.

"Bob but you don't look like a Bob in any form or shape," Zari noted.

"John, Steve, Sam, Paul," I listed off.

"What about Tom?" suggested Zari. "Like Tom Felton or Tom Riddle?"

"I'm sensing you still see him as a villain since you chose the name of one and the actor's name of another in the same series," I pointed out.

"I'm just saying, its a good name, also Malfoy wasn't a villain, just fell into the wrong crowd."

I scoffed. "He was born into it since his family were Death Eaters."

"No one's born evil," Zari argued.

"Demon babies are."

"And just how many of those have you actually seen to know that?" she challenged.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I countered.

She glared at me for a long moment before the facade crumbled and she engulfed me in another hug. "It's good to have you back and just before things get really busy too. You can help me decorate the place and help me set up shop before the real crowds come in."

I grinned. "I can't believe I missed five years of that holiday, if my heart still worked it would be breaking all over again." I chugged the mug of hot cider happily, thank gods I still could taste after death or I'd probably try to go right back to the grave.

"I think I still have the costume you were planning on wearing for it before you disappeared too," mused Zari. 

"You are the bestest best friend I've ever had, do you know that?" I asked her.

"I could stand to hear that more," she teased. "I really did miss you but I also knew you couldn't be gone for good, if I knew what happened or where to look even..."

"I didn't even know where I was when they highjacked the plane, was in the middle of a short lived nap when it happened and then suddenly I was in a fucking glass cell."

"And you still don't know who spilled?" she asked. "I didn't even know and we tell each other everything."

"It was a last minute change and you know how flying stresses me out, I didn't even think to tell you the change, I just wanted to go home."

"It had to be someone that saw you between England and the airport though right?"

"Seems only logical," I agreed while snuggling against Loki/Tom on the couch. "We'll come back to this, I think us demi gods could use a nap or something of that ilk at the moment."

"Is it that exhausting being dead?" she teased.

I grinned wickedly at her. "Care to find out?"

"Not today, bitch. I'll let you two recover, I'll be at my shop if you need me, lock up if you leave please." With that, she left us alone in the living room curled up on the couch and enjoying the much needed peace in each others unconfined company.

"I like her," Loki spoke up.

"I'd say she has her charms but that tends to come with being a witch."


	15. Trickster Treats

"You know, not that I'm complaining here, but you don't have to bribe me with chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin spice latte, as much as I missed those breakfast foods this time of year," I assured my best friend in the whole fucking multiverse.

"You have no idea how fucking bored I've been since you went MIA, I tried making new friends honest, but you of all people know how hard that is."

"Even in Salem where the weird are welcomed?" I asked.

Zari just nodded while shoveling crispy strips of freshly made bacon onto my already full plate. "I also think you need this, I know you don't extensively need to eat being dead and all but how the hell else do you recharge after kicking terrorist ass?"

"Mischievous magical sex certainly helps," I chirped.

"Is that why he hasn't come down for food like you did?" she asked, jerking her head toward the guest room we stayed in.

"Not as much as usual actually, we were both just tired and needed company over intimacy. Asgardians are fucking addicting, pun intended."

"Let's hope he doesn't wish he knew how to quit you," she teased.

I scoffed and shoveled more food into my mouth. "He aint never had it this good, the best thing about necrophilia is the dead can't say no."

"Jesus, woman, still with the dead jokes after all this time?"

"Always," I replied smoothly.

"So what should we do today while I got you?" she asked excitedly.

"Like you said, I gotta recharge and then I gotta celebrate properly since I missed out so many times, too many really, it's a good thing I got out before I missed it this year or I'd be seriously depressed."

"You're only really alive during this time of the year despite the veil between worlds being so thin and your death powers being strongest then, irony that is. So what was it like being in the Avengers company?"

"Kinda boring when I wasn't actively shagging the only other person on house arrest there, I'm not terribly into new state of the art tech Tony's all about. I mean yeah it looks cool and shit but like I've no idea how to use the majority of it."

"It did take forever for you to get a smartphone when the rest of the first world had been through like 5 at least."

"That was partially because I was under the impression I couldn't afford one or didn't need that much stuff just to contact people."

She rolled her eyes at me and scoffed. "Whatever, Ms. Slide to Text Not Smart Phone."

"Call me what you want but whenever I dropped that phone, the worst that happened was the battery popping out, let's see you drop a smartphone any height without a protective cover and see if it even works after that."

"Get with the times, woman!"

"Don't wanna!" I retorted and crossed my arms in a pretend pout.

"How the hell does Loki put up with you really?"

"I already told you, copious amounts of kinky and experimental sex, keep up."

"What about sex?" a familiar smooth accented voice interrupted.

We both turned to see a groggy looking Loki that shifted into his mortal form Tom seamlessly, a hand combing through his short sandy curls and a lazy smile tugging at his lips upon setting his eyes on me. "Zari wants to know why you put up with me."

"Put up with? Why would it be a chore to be with you?"

"My thoughts exactly. See, Zari, it's not me, it's you," I taunted.

"Shut up and eat your damn pancakes," she demanded.

"So orange is for the pumpkins everyone picks and carves into what you then call Jacko Lanterns, black is for the night of the holiday and the darkness and death that comes after the season more or less, white is for the spirits free to roam about, what about purple, I know I've seen some of that mixed in as well as green," Loki commented while we raided some more tourist stores full of holiday goodies.

"Purple seems to come out more in kid friendly type decor or even dare I say glitsy stuff I'd rather not. Green's also a bit kiddish but it also goes with the monsters and other characters people tend to dress as for the occasion," I explained, sifting through the sweatshirts that all had Salem something or other on it.

"And what's the most common costumes?"

"Well I mean every year there's always a select group of costumes that's all the rage of that year, like maybe Tony did something wicked awesome the world knows about so everyone's gotta be Iron Man that year, but then there's also something for the girls that's excessively popular but at a certain age or older it's gotta be either slutty or some other form of sexy because that's society in a nutshell. Dudes can be anything but chicks are just breathing sex dolls."

"That's disgusting, why didn't you people let me destroy New York when I had the chance?"

"What do you mean 'you people'?" I asked suspiciously. "You know how I feel about that city."

Loki picked up a rather cute looking scarf that of course was green and wrapped it around his neck then turned to me. "What do you think?"

"Lay off the green or go back to your real form, you can't have it both ways, even I know that and I never go undercover."

He scowled at my logic as he had made a habit of by now but put it back all the same and chose an orange one with black skulls instead. "As a child then, to your knowledge and not society's, what were the most popular costumes of choice?"

"I think even before I came into existence, the classic ones were: witch, ghost, devil, clown, cat, skeleton...those ones at least. They were the easiest to make as well if you didn't have the money or time to buy one and the economy has always been shit. Oh and there was the Grim Reaper of course, how could I forget that?"

"That was your first costume, wasn't it?"

"Nah." I smiled. "I don't remember much before I died, no faces or names or anyone really but I do know I was a witch...glad I can remember that much of my childhood. Ghost was the absolute easiest fucking costume to make but witch was the bees knees for me."

"What made a ghost costume?"

"Oh just find any old white or offwhite bedsheet that didn't drag too much on the ground or you'd probably trip over it half the time you're trick or treating, cut two holes for your eyes, boom done, you're a ghost, I sheet you not."

"Zari warned me you were fond of bad jokes and puns, I found them amusing but now I'm sort of wary."

It was my turn to scowl at this, he seemed to enjoy my wordplay till she had to ruin it. "She and I are gonna have words later about that, ruining my fun when I just got here." I snagged a comfy looking black and orange hoodie with a cute witch pun on it to purchase and snagged Loki's scarf as well to pay myself despite his protests. "Shush, Zari gave us spending cash since we want to stay under the radar and cards will fuck us over that way."

"I know but I wanted to pay for it myself," he insisted.

"Listen, this city is all about my favorite holiday and said holiday only has one law, trick or treat and since you are the master of tricks here, if you want anything in this city, it'll be my treat."

He opened his mouth to argue a few times before deciding he wasn't going to win what I thought was a smooth as fuck reply that should also be bulletproof too. "Fine. Well played."

"Jolly good, and thanks, been known to happen. How long do you think we'll have before we're found by either party?"

"Stark will hopefully find us first, I'd rather not be locked up again, I'm sure you agree there. As to how long...a few days give or take with his resources. Worried, love?"

"Something occurred to me just now. While this is my turf and I'm nigh unstoppable here, I don't want the other agents coming here and sullying my slice of heaven or Valhalla in your case and that's what they'll do, they're a plague, spreading and destroying everything they come in contact with."

"I can understand that, that's what I felt with Asgard before it went down in flames. What would you have us do then?"

"I don't want them here, but I still need to sort out the traitors, there's gotta be more than the two I saw there at the base. I'm also tired of being targetted, that's the reason I left the country in the first place and literally the second I come back before I can even touch native soil, I'm back to being wanted by the wrong people. This country sucks."

"The Avengers have already tried many times to nip it in the bud as you Midgardians would say. I'm willing to bet there's several more hidden bases off the radar we won't be able to find ourselves unless they want us too."

"What are you saying?"

"We won't be able to rid them of the world unfortunately, they've been around since 1940s at least and don't plan on retiring despite their old age. Although...what did you say about getting rid of certain household arachnids earlier on?"

I blinked and wracked my memory, wondering where he was going with his musings before it dawned on me and a wide wicked grin spread across my face. "If you can't kill em, make em wish they never came in. What do you know, you can teach an old god new tricks."

His smirk from pulling a page out of my own book went back into an unamused though half hearted glare at my last bit. "You're lucky I don't know how to quit you."

And once more I was the one scowling again. "You wouldn't survive the withdrawals, I'm a fever you can't sweat out. Also, it's rude to spy on other people's conversations. That's classified information you don't have clearance for."

"I'm a god, I have clearance for everything, silly woman."

"Eventually that card will expire that you keep pulling," I muttered, tugging him out of the shop and onto another while pulling on my new hoodie.

Outside in the heart of Salem, the cobblestone streets were damn near packed like Mardi Gras in the South, street vendors everywhere, tourists and people that just bloody love the upcoming holiday getting it while it was there. The park across the street from all the chaos was busy with fair rides and games for the kiddos, fried dough, candy apples and fresh apple cider as fair food. This was my home, my heaven, if I died for good then and there, I'd regret nothing because I'd already be in heaven and there was no telling what kind of afterlife I was in for. The air was crisp and smelled of hay rides and apples and I couldn't remember a time I was more in love than I was then. I pulled Loki out of the crowded street and into a side alley between shops, grabbed him by his cute new scarf and snogged him passionately. Even in human form I couldn't get enough of him, would you blame me? He cupped the side of my face once we pulled away and studied me almost tenderly.

"This will be our place," he murmured. "Not Stark's, not the Avengers, not Hydra's. I've already watched one place I love go down in flames and I've already lost one woman I love fall before that even happened, I won't let either of which happen again, not while I'm still breathing. I swear it on my life. We can't let them near this but we can't run from them either, so we'll take the fight to them or die trying."

"Well, you might die, I'm already there but yes, I concur. First we enjoy our mini vacation, then we raise some hell and all the damned that comes with it. To mischief, to merriment, to manslaughter!"


	16. Tale of a Cryptic Reaper

"I feel like just ripping out their soul isn't enough punishment for breaking the natural order," I stated back at the cottage.

"Have you felt that before? It's like no pain imaginable," Zari argued.

"Which isn't very encouraging as I can imagine a lot. Even so, once it's out, it's done, they're done and shells don't feel shit."

"First, you'd have to go through all those annoying henchmen though," she reminded me.

"Like bugs on a windshield, they go splat, I just keep going and wipe em off."

"How many did you clean off in my shower?"

I shrugged. "Hard to say, it was dark. You're welcome to join us, you know? Could always use another mage in battle."

"Sorry, American Horror Story is on and my TiVo's full so I gotta watch while it's fresh."

I gave her a disbelieving look. "I got your American Horror Story right here, it's got gore, sex, taboo shit, foul language, and a really hot dude that just wants to fuck shit up with me."

"It's not AHS without Evan Peters."

"I mean if you wanted to, you could probably find him wherever Magneto went but whatever, I'll just take my Loki and go, I see how it is."

At that moment of course, Loki walked into the kitchen Zari and I were bickering in and arched an eyebrow at the two of us curiously. "Take me where?"

"Dude, what did I tell you about eavesdropping on our chats?" I countered.

"The walls here are rather thin, you can't blame me there."

"I could, it just wouldn't go over well in court."

Loki smirked at this and dipped his head as he closed the distance between us for a quick smooch. "What were you two discussing before me?"

"What to do about our new enemy," Zari replied for me. "If you do end up making shells out of them, save some souls for me, will ya?"

"If I don't decide to just rip em apart myself first, I'll keep that in mind," I assured her.

"I'd rather you don't knock down an entire block in a show of rage and power again like last time, I'm fairly certain that's the reason you got on Hydra's radar in the first place. They're always looking for the next biggest form of mass destruction and then there's you, the cause of it."

"Listen sister, there's only one way to flush out all the rats in a building and that's to set it all on fire, how else was I gonna get every last bastard in one go?"

"Seek and destroy or I dunno, anything but what you fucking did?!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Ain't nobody got time fo dat."

"Are you two always like this?" Loki spoke up in a tone of amusement.

"Like what?" we both asked in unison.

"Nevermind."

"You two can chill here for a while, I gotta run some errands and then maybe we can talk shop over food, yeah?" Zari stated hopefully.

"Sure thing, hun. Be safe but don't be a basic witch."

She winked at me. "Just my own charming self of course. Loki, if anything happens to her, there ain't a realm you can hide in that I won't find you." She grabbed her keys and purse and was out the door after that, leaving the two of us alone again.

"These stones your people all need, what kind of stones are they exactly?" asked Loki out of the blue.

I shrugged. "They started out as just your plain, ordinary yet somehow ridiculously expensive precious stones; rubies, emeralds, sapphires. When the first of us came to be and walked the earth, they quickly realized they couldn't just rely on themselves to climb ranks and survive, they needed something that could contain power for them without burning themselves out with it, something that could act as a reserve for them or a power cell, containing an extra bit of magic or lifeforce from them or what they obtained from their enemies but also something that wouldn't break or burn out as well, limitless even. Gemstones were the perfect vessel, not sure the actual arcane sciences of it but they absorb it without overloading or leaking. For eons, the stones were passed from loser to victor, essentially you keep what you kill until there was a time when either they went into hiding, their powers no longer worked for whatever reason, or they simply died out for a while. Of course, the stones were either hidden themselves or vanished with them and when the new generation of us came to be, we were basically left to vend for ourselves and had to find the stones our own way or die trying."

"And how did you find yours then?"

"Mine was more an accident than anything or maybe a coincidence, I didn't even realize what it actually was till much later in life. I don't remember names or faces but certain...events like that one are still in here. I was being chased by these mean kids that pegged me as a freak and they caught me and threw me into a mausoleum, chained, and padlocked the one door in and out of it shut with me inside. They thought since I talked to the dead so much I should remain with the remains. I couldn't break out, I was just a weak little kid, no one but those other kids were around to hear me call out, I could hear them snickering and laughing at me from outside so I just sat down and cried thinking no one would help me. I must've woke up the resident of the crypt because the door to his vault opened up then and out he popped to see who called for him. He stayed with me till I stopped crying and started realizing the dead aren't the ones I should be afraid of then crawled back into his final resting spot and the door burst open on its own, no one outside waiting for me. Where he sat next to me though while I was locked in there, was an antique necklace he seemingly left behind and me being the little girl that liked shiny cool things, picked it up, tucked it away in case the mean kids came back and try to steal it from me, and kept it ever since as a reminder the living are far worse than the dead."

"Even as a child, the dead seemed to follow you, to come to your call even when you didn't realize you were doing it and hadn't reached your full potential. Most children are left scarred for life in seeing death like that if at all. What of the others? Did they have an early encounter?"

"I don't think it matters when you find what you are so much as how you react to it. At the very least you gotta have some kind of compatibility with the dead, some kind of affinity with them or you'll be wasting more time and energy forcing your will on them since you don't understand each other. It also takes a strong stomach to some degree, I mean you're basically calling up a bunch of rotting, not remotely fresh from the grave hungry corpses. I remember when I saw my first one, I thought it was just dirty and the rot was what cooties looked like. Then when I got older I understood what was going on but I already came to terms with the dead so it didn't bother me what state they were in. I mean think about it, what kind of necromancer would you be if you were afraid of what you raise? What kind of leader is scared of their own subjects or soldiers? Would you want to follow that kind of person into battle?"

"Of course not, I'd want a leader that would die for me, a leader that I in turn would die for."

"Exactly, just as I would kill for you and die for you...either way, what bliss!"

Loki chuckled at this and kissed my head gently. "Let's not rush into that last bit if that's even possible for you. You know I have to admit, I was wrong about you being like my half sister Hela and I'm glad I was. You might both have dominion over the dead but she only had the one army under her control and they were quite mindless in obeying her, your reign seems more lenient in who to call to your aid and how to call to them."

"That sounds more like what we're gonna be up against with the traitors. How did you end up shaking her off in the end, I wasn't told the whole story."

"We unleashed the Fire Giant king Surtur on her and all of our realm while she was there so he'd destroy it before she could."

"Ah yes, very clever move that, betting that was either yours or Thor took entirely too long to come to that. Fire is one of the best and easiest methods in defeating the dead, that and beheading of course. That's not the clever part though, but the tactic in destroying the goal of your enemy rather than the enemy herself. Learned that in an old cartoon, Shaolin Showdown, sometimes you can still win without delivering their head on a golden platter, just ensure they don't reach their endgame another way. Enemies might be polar opposites in morals but their goals are often quite different and not just opposite as well."

"You are far too young to be that wise about battle tactics," Loki stated.

"Excuse you, when did I tell you how old I am or how long I've been dead even? All you know is I've been underground for five years, that should be it!"

"Maybe Stark found out more about you than he let on and found out who you were before you died," he challenged.

"Not bloody likely, it ain't just my memory that's been wiped, anything on me has been erased as well as anyone else's memory of me from the time before, it was pretty damn thorough."

"What about legal documents, don't you Midgardians have these papers of when you were conceived, birth certificates I believe they're called or a grave marker for when you died even?"

"An unmarked grave if there is one, the legal stuff is protected and hidden by top men."

"Who?"

"Top. Men."

Loki scowled at me, not amused by my lack of solid answers. "What happens if you destroy someone's stone? Can it be destroyed?"

"Not easily, that's for damned sure. The power inside the stones are released full force so worst case scenario you destroy yourself and gods know how much distance around you, you're unleashing eons of built up power that only get stronger with time. They can be broken up though that too is extremely hard to do and just as dangerous, shards of which can be put in different places and spread out though it's not wise to split power for more than one reason, there's always backlash for trying to make shortcuts like that."

"Do different stones have different powers or properties?"

I shrugged. "Probably, I don't know what the others are though."

"Do you know how many there are?"

"Not a lot but not the exact number, hopefully Hydra still hasn't gotten their hands on it, they won't know how to use it properly as its not in their blood but that's just as bad if not worse if they still tamper with it. Both the stones and the blades were designed specifically for us so they'd never fall into the wrong hands, though if they make the people they're meant for use it how they want that's another thing entirely."

"You almost sound worried there."

"We gotta fix this sooner rather than later or you'll get all your questions I can't answer, answered and there's a reason I can't tell you them, you're not meant to know."

"I have your back always...unless you're on it yourself, then I have your front which is the more enjoyable side if I'm being honest."

I arched an eyebrow at his blatant suggestion but grabbed him by the shirt collar regardless and pulled him down for a smooch. "You're lucky you're cute."


	17. Bigger Fish, Doo Doo Doo Doo

No matter how many times I visited Salem in the past, I never got tired of shop hopping every touristy store or authentic wiccan shop in the city. Of course with it being so close to All Hallows Eve, that wasn't what ended up happening when the streets were packed with street vendors and all their beautifully handcrafted delights. Under normal circumstances, I'd abhor walking through so many crowds of people but this was the only time of year I really felt strong and alive again, with the veil between worlds being so thin it was like Ned Flanders ski suit. Of course even before all the necromancy stuff I loved the holiday, there was nothing more liberating than dressing up as whatever the hell you want and no one judging you for it or making you feel less for doing so. Plus free candy, you can't go wrong with free candy despite all those urban legends about drugs or razors being mixed into that. Just don't go trick or treating to places/neighborhoods you aren't familiar with, it's common sense people!

"Steer clear of the fake psychics while we're here, they don't like me much," I warned Loki as he eyed a palm reader tent.

"Why, what did you do?"

"Called them out and made them lose clients, it's their own damn fault preying on desperate people who just want to talk to their recently deceased loved ones and capitalizing on it. For just this amount of money I can get them to talk to you, even make them solid so you can see em one last time. That's fucked up, you're giving them false hope and a bigger hole in their wallet. The real ones also charge you for it but they're not as over the top."

"Is there a way to tell a difference between them without being sucked in by their claims?"

"I can tell them apart, one is actually linked to the dead, the other is just greedy bastards. But I kinda doubt others can tell them apart and that's how they lure em in. Like an angler fish."

"Hideous beasts those creatures are from what I've seen of them, hope you don't go fishing for them like other big fish," Loki muttered.

"We tend to not go for deep sea creatures because as you said, the deeper they are the uglier and freakier they get and that's not remotely appetizing."

"You'll eat squid and those crustaceans though and they're not that pretty either."

"Because they're not deep sea and they're fucking delicious, I will fight whoever says lobsters especially aren't delicious, that's my favorite food in the whole multiverse."

"I have a strong suspicion you haven't even been off this planet let alone another universe."

I glared playfully at the cocky god and scoffed. "Minor details, it's still the bees knees."

We wandered and splurged till the evening and returned to the field by the sea while there was still sunlight, enjoying the quiet as vendors started to simmer down before the night festivities started up.

"You really wanna stay here? With me?" I asked him quietly as we watched the skyline.

"I take it you're surprised I've suggested such a long term commitment to someone I've not known that long and it's understandable your reaction but I meant it."

"You know we can't have a family, well I can't, apparently you can if those myths about you were true."

He gave me an unamused, pointed look, knowing full well that I knew they weren't true as he himself made that clear. "All I want is to be with you, in the end. What comes after that, whatever it is, we'll handle it together."

"Bring it on," I agreed. 

"If you say so," a new voice interrupted.

I spun around just in time to feel something big and burning strike me right in the chest, knocking me back off my feet and several feet away from Loki who's face went from horror to furious and instantly went back to his preferred form of black hair and green Asgardian attire, a dagger in each hand. I scrambled to my feet only to be shot at, not by magic this time around but by rock salt, not just good against ghosts like in Supernatural. Black blood instantly spread from the chest wound and up my throat as I coughed to clear it, still stunned from the magic punch and weakened from the salt. "Motherfucker!" I couldn't see from where I lay which rat bastard of the traitors knocked me down but I could definitely see the Hydra agents closing in on us. I looked over to where Loki was and his eyes locked on mine and he instantly knew what I was trying to convey, we couldn't fight them when I'm down and out, and I didn't wanna fight them in my happy place anyway, we needed an out. He didn't hesitate on the idea and created a thick green smokescreen around us as he rushed to my aid, picking me up in his arms and teleported us away from the oncoming chaos.

We were suddenly in NYC, Loki still holding me in his arms, surrounded by buildings in one of the parks, probably Central. 

"We can't be out in the open," I gasped, turning my head away from him to spit out more blood. 

"And we don't want to draw the Avengers attention either, I assume, so where?"

"Do you need an address? I don't know where exactly but I have an idea of where."

"Think of it and I'll get us there."

So I did and green magic took us into a set of apartment buildings in a rough part of the city.

"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked me softly.

"I just need a place to lay low till I can get all the damned salt out of my system, its hindering my ability to self heal."

Loki carried me to the first door we could find that I felt would be the safest bet and knocked on it softly.

"One second!" a familiar somewhat squeaky voice called from the other side before hurried footsteps were heard coming to the door and it was pulled open. "Mr. Loki! What are you doing here? Oh my God, what happened?"

"I got shot, can we come in, please?" I asked the kid in front of us.

"O-of course, man, it's a good thing May's out having a date tonight though, good timing there," he muttered. "Why here though?" He stepped aside to let Loki carry me in where I was gently placed on the couch, my head propped on a pillow propped on his lap while the host propped on the farther armrest.

"I needed a place to lay low and away from the Avengers, so you can't tell Tony I'm here, like at all, same for Loki."

"O-ok, but wouldn't he be able to help you, there's nothing I could do here, he'd have more experience and resources."

"None of which can help heal someone already dead, hun, all I need is a place to hide that's off the radar and seeing as none of your enemies know where you live, I kinda suspect your place is my best bet right now. I won't stay long, just gotta recover and I'm off like a herd of turtles."

Peter looked at me with an expression between concern and curiosity. "Who shot you? I thought you said most weapons don't work."

"Hydra are on my tail again and they have people, my people helping them track me down. Most weapons don't work on their own, I got hit by something else first that weakened my defenses down to a normal human's so I wouldn't be able to heal myself when I got shot after." I looked at Peter then, really looked at him, I didn't need ghost vision to see he was a good kid, insatiable curiosity and all. He worshiped Tony without question or hesitation, stuck to his morals, and did his best in all he could which couldn't be easy as for a kid, he could do a hell of a lot.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked me.

I wanted to shrug but pain didn't allow much movement. "What's good for flushing salt from a wound?"

"Water and foods rich in potassium, um sports drinks with electrolytes in them."

I wrinkled my nose at the last one. "Of all the choices Tony made, the one he made on you takes the cake. I think you need to submerge me in water, you do have a tub right?"

"Of course. Do you need help with that or...?"

"I've got her," Loki assured him.

"What he means is I'm about to get naked and he doesn't like sharing the view," I joked. "Ain't that right, babe?"

"Even when you're bleeding out, you still manage to tease me over this," he growled. "Maybe I should just drown you."

"You're welcome to try but I should remind you first that I don't breathe so that kinda won't work. Pete, lead the way and thank you."

I let myself sink to the cold porcelain bottom of the tub, staring up through the water at Loki who watched me worriedly as the water started turning dark with blood. To lighten the mood, I started singing Singing in the Rain like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, as after this bath I'd be cured alright. 

Peter knocked on the door during one point, making sure I was doing okay without peaking in, being the little superpowered boyscout he was. While I was flushing out salt, he was nice enough to clean and dry my clothes for me at nearest laundromat which I was thankful for and also surprised he got out the black blood stains, maybe I should just wear black for the purpose of hiding blood but then it wasn't often people made me bleed my own blood. Once I was strong enough to move without crumbling, I allowed Loki to pull me out and dry me before he returned my clothes fresh out of the dryer and I sighed at the warmth before collapsing back on the couch as Peter insisted there was no rush to leave.

"What could've made your defenses that weak?" Peter asked.

"Not a whole lot actually, I wasn't brought back from the dead just to die by any ordinary means."

"It had to be mine," Loki murmured.

"What?"

"The color of the energy blast was green when it was fired at you and you flickered to your old form when you got hit by it. They must have gotten it from me while I was contained with you back there."

If I wasn't already unnaturally pale, I would be now. "They're getting smarter, those bastards, how the fuck did they figure that out?"

"Does it matter? They know I'm your weakness more than metaphorically now, while I doubt they can keep using what they got from me initially, as long as we're both still around they'll be after us."

I groaned and dropped back on the couch dramatically. "This is why I wanted more power to begin with, to stop being a target and level the playing field or wipe out competitors. Should've kept the receipt on that deal."

"There's always a bigger fish," mused Peter.

"Yeah well I was promised I'd be great white status and Hydra ain't remotely close to Megalodon so I shouldn't be dealing with them like I'm forced to."

"Megalodon?" questioned Loki curiously.

"The biggest shark to exist on this planet, could swallow the biggest animal easily if it were still around but it presumably died out with the other prehistoric monsters of earth. Could eat a whole pod of whales and still have room for more."

"Hold on, what do you mean presumably?" squeaked Peter.

"There's speculation they're just napping at the bottom of the sea somewhere, I mean it makes sense since sharks are still around when all other prehistoric beasties are out of existence, they're survivors. I mean yeah there's relatives of them walking around now but sharks stayed sharks, just smaller over time. Much like people, they too shrink with old age."

"Is that why you're so short?" teased Loki.

I opted to simply punch him in the arm but as I hadn't completely recovered, while the bleeding and flickering had stopped and the wound was closing, I apparently still had mortal strength and the very audible sound of fingers breaking happened as a result. "My me-time hand!"

"That shouldn't be an issue when you have me," Loki noted.

I scowled. "Yeah well that ain't happening anytime soon, my moral compass might not point north but I'm not shagging in a tiny little apartment as a guest, we'd destroy the place and the host's sanity and innocence in the process and then Tony will really be after us."

"Have it your way, oh wait you can't as your good hand is broken," he retorted.

"Peter, how strong are your webbings, could they muzzle a god for instance?" I asked the hapless kid watching us.

"I-I'm not sure that's a good idea, Nell. I think with you being injured and him being an actual god, he might actually be the strongest here."

"Nah, give him to Dr. Banner on a bad day and he's just like the rest of us. You on the other hand, you're young and super strong and can stop a speeding bus with your bare hands or hold a ferry together. I can see why Tony has such faith in you, you got some serious potential...don't fuck it up."

"I won't...and thanks."

"You're a good kid, Pete, with a big heart and a serious case of wounded puppy look, don't let anyone change you, you've no idea how rare someone like you is in this world."

"That's-that's really...are you okay? I mean, I kinda thought you didn't like me and now you're..."

"Nah you're okay, just before when you were at the compound, you were a fucking moment killer, pun intended and that insatiable curiosity can get on my nerves when I'm already in a mood by you ruining my good one so you kinda had it coming then but seeing as I interrupted you this time around, we good." My hand bones began to fix themselves as my body was slowly returning to it's dead stasis state of unbreakable but not alive either. I wiggled the fingers once they set themselves back properly and sighed happily. "It's good to be dead."


	18. Spiderman With a Plan

May came back before Loki could teleport us away or Peter could even hide us. It took a bit of explaining and convincing to let an alien war criminal and a walking, slowly healing corpse stay but between Peter telling her we had in fact been staying with Tony up till now and she trusted Tony almost as much as she trusted her nephew, and me swearing they aren't in danger as Hydra doesn't want Peter, only me, she seemed to yield at the end. Loki then offered a better place for them if they didn't feel safe with us being around but the two of them turned down his offer, stating that if Spiderman's enemies didn't even know where he lived, ours wouldn't either. Loki then promised if that wasn't the case and they came after them, to have Spiderman find us and Loki would fix the damage for them. I had to look at him then, being all generous and gentlemanly when the world pegged him for a narcissistic megalomaniac war criminal.

"I kinda get the sense you were a bit like him when you were...a kid? I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with Asgardian years, is it like dog years? No wait are humans like dog years compared to you lot?" I asked Loki.

"What do you think I was like as a child that you see with Parker?" asked Loki in amusement.

"Quiet, eager to please, exceptionally clever compared to most your age there, desperately wanting to find your place, maybe a little bit awkward but still quite gifted though few see that last quality or care enough to notice."

Loki was quiet for a moment, probably trying to remember what he was actually like way way way back when he was a wee bairn but the slowly creasing brow seemed to imply I was at the very least not off the mark that bad. "Why do you think I'm like him?"

"I'd say more he's like you as you were here eons before he was. But to answer your question...I can't say how long I've been around but I do know I've been around long enough to study people and see details most might miss in interactions and reactions. When you're around anyone like Thor, you kinda have this aura of irritation, even though it's not him all the time, the kind of person who charged head and fists first into any kind situation, all about action and making a great mess. When it comes to interacting with someone with more wit, more intelligence, more analytical and less physical stuff, you're more reserved in reaction, more curious and intrigued. The same kind of qualities I see in you, you see in others and I know there's plenty of self love in that icicle of a heart you have, maybe not at first, but it's definitely there now." Both Peter and Loki stared at me with damn near identical expressions of something between "wtf" and "how the hell did you figure all this out, who are you?". "What? You think I didn't notice between the jokes and the constant commentaries? Just because I'm physically and legally dead, doesn't mean I'm brain dead too."

"You sure I'm not just rubbing off on you," teased Loki.

"I told you I'm not terribly fond of that action to begin with, it's gross. Also and more importantly, I find your faith disturbing, as you should recall even in your ancient age, I was muzzled when you found me and I don't always need to use my mouth when calling the dead so..."

Loki was about to retort I assume but as he opened his mouth to do so, Peter beat him to it. "Hydra muzzled you?"

"Initially they didn't but when you're me and hoping they get so annoyed by your jokes and taunts that maybe they'll let you go because nothing else they did to me worked like they wanted, they decided a muzzle wasn't just for dogs. In my defense, I had been stuck in that cramped glass cell for apparently 5 years with no outside contact, I honestly don't know how I'm still somewhat sane after all that time alone."

"Well maybe it's because time has no effect on the dead, right?" offered Peter hopefully.

I opened my mouth to object but damn if he wasn't a mortal, Midgardian version of Loki always being on par with his points. "Okay, you win that round. It felt like a few months to me, color me shell shocked when I was actually told how long I was down there and how much stuff I missed out on."

"I'm still not completely sold on you actually being dead when you're walking and talking in front of me though," Peter muttered.

"Seeing isn't always believing, hun. Here, check for a pulse or any way to tell if a person is dead or alive these days."

"Then how are you here? And also, if you are in fact a necromancer, aren't you susceptible to being controlled by another necromancer since you're dead too?"

"Under normal circumstances, maybe, but alas I'm anything but normal so nah."

"What are you then?"

I gave the kid a sinister smile. "Pray you never find out because when you do...you'll wish you never met me."

"You can't be that bad if Tony Stark took you in."

"Tony Stark means well and is insanely smart but mostly just insane, I mean he did essentially invent his own supervillain with Ultron on Slovakia and then more or less help in making an infinity stone with Vision, didn't he? More recently though he gave insanely expensive superhero equipment to a teenager too smart for his own good. Think of it this way, Hydra wants Capsicle dead because he's too good to be made useful to them, nothing they can do will make him the next Winter Soldier. A good heart will almost always be a good heart unless the ones let into that heart break it which won't be Hydra ever, that's for damn sure. Hydra can break many things but a heart ain't one. Now take a heart that's not all good, one that has no strict moral compass or doesn't lean toward one end or another, that one more than a good or even an evil one, can be useful. They want me alive because I'm useful and now they know how to make it theirs through Loki. If they really thought their efforts in extracting stuff from me was fruitless, they'd kill me any way possible or at least leave me for dead or let me go even but they didn't as Loki can attest, I was still chained down and muzzled in a glass cell when he found me."

"Are you seriously trying to convince me that you're actually a chaotic neutral?" Peter asked incredulously.

"That is exactly what I'm telling you I am. I mean yeah I try my best to keep the peace and natural order between me and the others like me but look how fucking well that's going when they're either dying out or switching sides. I'd say I'd like to be more toward lawful neutral but then I'd be lying because lawful is fucking boring having to follow the rules so blindly."

"What's wrong with rules?"

"Nothing, they're just meant to be broken is all and no one seems to get that."

"Nothing's made to be broken though," Peter argued.

"I disagree, Reginald, pinatas are, glowsticks, karate boards, pasta when you have a small pot, those party crackers. Loki, can you think of anything?"

"Glasses or goblets for really good drinks you want more of, good riding horses that haven't been trained yet, new footwear, a lady's hymen," Loki continued.

"I'ma stop you right there before you get too graphic."

"You asked, don't get shy on me now."

"Shy? I'm sorry, have you met me? I joked about oral when we first met, how the fuck is that shy? I'm censoring you for Peter's sake as we're guests and don't want to overstay our welcome."

"Seriously?" squeaked Peter. "I'm sorry, you're trapped in some base and the first non Hydra person you see, who just happens to be a war criminal from another planet that attacked this city not too long ago, and you blatantly flirt with him?"

"'K first of all, back off on the judging, buddy, you don't know what it's like being trapped with the same ugly assholes for an extended period of time and wishing for a new face regardless of their intentions. Secondly, he's hot so there's that and just cuz I'm dead doesn't mean I don't have some needs left in me, a few select things make me feel alive again, he turned out to be one of them. Also, did I mention he's hot and he really pulls off the green god look in all leather and stuff."

"You weren't the least bit worried?"

"What's he gonna do? Kill me? Good luck, he ain't the first to try it."

"Okay, you are way too casual about being wanted dead or deader."

I snorted. "Very little fazes me these days, if I got myself worked up over every little obstacle I would be a cold mess and never leave the grave I crawled out of."

"Wise words from a dead girl," teased Loki who got punched in the arm again, this time my fingers didn't break but he was still made of solid ice so it pretty much bounced off him.

"I'm curious which of the two of you has more secrets, I mean Loki is kinda known for that kind of thing but then there's you who's been dropping hints there's a lot we don't know about you, you're just so casual about them whereas if Loki drops hints he comes off completely devious and cunning about it, like he's flaunting it almost."

"That's because Loki is the god of teasing," I mused. "In many ways. And he's had many many lifetimes in his old age to perfect it. Yeah that's right, tease me about being corpse all you want, but remember you're basically a cradle robbing necrophiliac for shacking up with a dead girl that's not even a fourth of your age."

"I might be over a thousand or so years old but between that being still young in Asgardian years as you call it and no one outside you and the Avengers knowing how old I am just by looking at me, that's not actually that much of an issue. Nice try though."

"You're over a thousand?" questioned Peter in shock. "How long before you actually get gray hairs?"

"I'm working on that," I joked.

Loki scowled at me then and shook his head. "A few more thousand I should say, might be different for me being a Frost Giant rather than actual Asgardian."

"Do you age at all?" Peter asked me.

"My body is in a state of dead stasis, it can't change or age and always returns to the same state of death. It's how I heal like I do."

"But didn't you say Loki's magic could undo that?"

"He's probably the only one that can at the moment, him and the wankers that stole some of his power to use against me. I don't know the specifics but I'm guessing because I'm a source of death magic and his is either exactly or closely related to living magic, the two cancel each other out."

"I'm still not happy about them doing that nor do I know how," muttered Loki.

"Like you said, that part doesn't matter at this point, they have it and unfortunately they know how to use it. We just gotta figure out how to undo that so I don't get shot full of rocksalt again, that shit stings like swallowing an angry beehive."

"I-I might have an idea if I remember your other powers correctly," Peter spoke up, looking at Loki eagerly. "Also, random question, which of you is actually more powerful?"

Loki and I looked at each other for a moment then both at Peter at the same time. 

"He's been around eons longer than I have and acquired a fuckton more power over time than I have but the power I have isn't remotely like his so I'm not even sure the two are comparable, he built his up over time, I earned it another way entirely and not all on my own like I'm willing to bet he has."

Loki then looked back at me and I could almost hear the gears grinding in his head, knowing he had picked up more of the many hints I've dropped about myself to collect and analyze later. "Are you ever going to tell me the whole story?"

"If that's allowed but ultimately it's not up to me to decide that," I replied softly. "So this plan of yours, Pete, do tell!"

"Well first, Loki, would you be affected by your own magic hitting you."

"If it came from me, no, if someone else can wield magic like mine then yes."

"Then I got an idea that should work."


	19. Good Impressions

I looked in the mirror and couldn't help but grin widely, baring my teeth even as a sense of giddiness filled me. It was very rarely I ever actually dressed up or even really did much to prepare for an upcoming battle beyond gathering power, planning and making sure I had all my war ducks in a row, this was extra but it was the good kind in my opinion.

"You know...I read that the Spartans, the fiercest ancient warriors our world had at one point, would pretty themselves up before battle and spies from enemy lines that caught them doing that would overestimate them. Apparently real men don't wear makeup into a war," I told Loki who walked up behind me, watching me check myself out. "Funny thing is in this country and probably a lot of other countries today have this thing called war paint which might not make them look fabulous like a Spartan but it might as well be makeup as it's primarily worn on their face."

"I remember the Spartans, Odin was impressed by their tactics and way of life, especially their stand against the Persians, the odds weren't in their favor and yet somehow they gave them hell before defeat," Loki recalled.

"Quality over quantity," I added. "Those people were literally born to be warriors, only the strong babies survived the first of many tests they were forced into." I combed a hand through my hair, considered messing it but decided against it. "I used to be more of a silk or velvet kinda girl but I gotta tell ya, I'm really digging the leather. It's fashionable, it's sexy even, and it's pretty decent armor, I mean it's no breastplate or Kevlar vest but those are a bit too obvious and that's the last thing we want right now." I took a few swaggering steps, glancing at my backside curiously to see how it all fit together.

"You're enjoying this entirely too much," he mused.

"I know it hasn't been that long since we met, but are you really surprised at this point?"

"No, not really. How long are you gonna fawn over yourself in the mirror before we actually put this plan into motion?"

"Relax, I got this. I just gotta get a few things down pat before we jump head first into this oncoming shit storm." I grinned again. "What's the hurry?"

He watched me, a glint of amusement in his eyes as he shook his head at my antics. "You got the smile right and I'm not sure how you were able to copy my walk so quickly but the humor needs to change if you insist on chattering before things get started."

"But...humor is why I'm still kicking," I protested. "And it's a far cry from your own, which mind you I'm glad you have any at all, some other gods can't seem to grasp that concept despite being eons old. Still, it's a lot more...eloquent than I'm used to."

"Then perhaps don't say anything at all."

"And leave you to do all the talking, hell to the no, spank you very much."

"What's wrong with me doing the talking for once?" he crossed his arms in challenge and arched an eyebrow, daring me to answer.

I gave the god an unapologetic and unamused look. "I'm not the only one that's been muzzled here, maybe your brother was onto something when he did it to you."

"How dare you? You take that back right now!"

"Or what? Whatcha gonna do, huh? Take your shot, green boy, you got me deadbang."

The sound of someone clearing their throat loudly interrupted our usual bickering match and we both turned to see a half amused half arachnid smirking at us with his unnaturally muscular arms crossed as well. "You know this is technically playing with yourself, right? I mean if that's the case, could you get a room that isn't the only bathroom in the apartment, please?"

"How long since this plan was in motion did you wanna use that joke?" I teased the kid.

Peter shrugged and pretended to look bashful but now that he too was throwing in dirty jokes, the facade of him being an innocent kid was now out the window. "You sure I can't tag along?"

"Kid, you got your own enemies to fight and this might be a bit above your skillset which means if you tag along theres much less chance of you coming back."

"But you could just bring me back yourself, right?"

I scowled at his optimism. "Doesn't work that way, I only bring back the ones that can't pass on on their own and want another chance at tying up loose ends, and you better not be one of those people, you're a kid, which goes against my personal code of bringing back zombie kids, that's just fucking depressing having an army of rotting midgets."

Peter sighed in despair and slumped his shoulders. "I never get to do anything fun."

I rolled my eyes at his whining. "I'd also be held responsible for letting you come with and I kinda don't want to be hunted down by a team of go getters and fancyass technology, no spank you. I already have Hydra for the latter. So do me a favor, sit your five dollar ass down, before I make change."

Peter scoffed at my implied threat but stopped bugging me, it might have been his plan that could get the odds in our favor but it sure as hell wasn't his fight and I had no intention of dragging another cute super powered person into my personal vendetta. "Aunt May says you can come back anytime, just give one of us a heads up next time...and maybe something that gets black bloodstains off any surface just in case."

I would've blanched if I wasn't pale already. "Oh no, did I ruin something, I can pay for that."

"No no, just, I think she thinks you'd only come here if you're in trouble like you were this time and she's worried you might miss a spot next time if that's the case, normal blood you can just use hydrogen peroxide, but I'm not too sure it works on corpse blood."

"Noted and tell her thanks for everything, same goes for you of course since you were the one to let us in before she agreed to it. And also not informing the A team, that's important...you didn't tell them right?"

"Not like they take me all that seriously or even answer my calls if I did," Peter muttered. "You're all good there, promise."

"Excellent! You stay sharp and cute, the second either of that fails, you're fucked."

"Thanks, I think."

"Right then." I turned to Loki with another smirk. "How's this for a first impression?" I asked in smooth sorta British sorta something else accent.

He scowled at me but couldn't complain it seemed. "I'm getting the sense you've been working on that before this came to pass."

"Anyone can do an Avenger impression, hell anyone can wear their costumes, right Peter? But I'm not about the hero life, so why waste time on them when I've been giving it all to you?"

Loki was silent at this and it was Peter that actually responded to me. "That was actually really sweet."

"You say that like it's a surprise, physically dead here, not emotionally dead, thank you. My heart hadn't reached that stage where it becomes calcified like a fetus that won't leave its womb."

"You always have the oddest choice of metaphors," muttered Loki. "So you have the walk, the voice, the smile even though I'm not sure that's even necessary at this point."

"When are you going to prepare for the plan then?" I challenged. "Go on, see how well you know your part."

"Don't you worry about my side of the plan, I've been doing this sort of thing for the sheer fun of it long before you decided to do it out of sheer boredom."

I snorted and rolled my eyes at him. "Yes, we're all very aware of your old age, you don't have to remind us like we have to remind you, old man."

"Ye of little faith," he mocked, earning a bar of soap flying at his face he was lucky enough to duck. "Your aim needs improvement."

"I'm sorry, did you actually want to be hit in the head by something solid and hard and not a pillow, because I missed on purpose, you cotton headed ninny-muggins."

"Seriously, is all you two do bicker at each other?" asked Peter.

"Well I mean you wouldn't let us have any real adult fun while we crashed here so we gotta get that pent up energy out somehow, right?" I reasoned.

"She's not wrong," Loki agreed. 

"Besides, no one's getting hurt from it, I'm convinced this is our own special way of showing we love each other without being a bunch of saps. I'm 99 things but a sap ain't one."

"What's wrong with being affectionate?" asked Peter, almost sounding offended.

"That implies I have more emotions than I'm willing to admit to anyone including myself, I'm generally not ok with having that much feels." I grinned, slicked back my hair again before doing a little dance for funsies. 

"I'd refrain from doing that little jig when the plan's in full swing," warned Loki though he was still smiling in amusement.

"Oh but I like this," I purred with the accent again.

The smirk on his own face twisted, like I said something that somehow offended him and all his ancestors and pissed him off or deeply upset him. "Don't make me take it away from you till right before the fight starts."

"Oh come on, maybe you just need to hug it out and join the fun, bring it in, big guy." I opened my arms wide for emphasis. "There's no better love than self love."

He rolled his eyes at my stellar pun and green magic rolled over him as he changed into character. "I bet you were just dying to make that joke."

I stared at him and it was my turn to glare. "Was that your attempt at a dead joke? Oh hun, you gotta do better than that to fit the bill."

"Don't patronize me, woman, I wasn't even trying then."

I walked over and patted his cheek just to mess with him. "Sure you weren't. Do me a favor and work on that but also turn around for me."

"Why?"

"Just...do it."

He did begrudgingly and I frowned upon studying his form thoroughly before he faced me again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you got it right, it's just...I didn't realize it looked like that and now I'm suddenly an insecure teenager. Peter, is this how you feel all the time because, dude, this really sucks and I feel for ya."

"You say that like you were never one yourself," Peter noted.

"I know I was but like, I don't remember what it was like then, I couldn't tell you what I was like as a teen."

"Why not?"

"No memory of it, at all."

"You mean like it was so long ago that you can't remember that far back or lots of stuff happened during it so fast that it's all a blur."

"I mean it's not even accessible, it's gone from my mind completely."

Peter frowned, probably trying to understand what I was getting at. "Amnesia?"

"Mindwipe."

"Like Bucky Barnes?"

"No, that's brainwashed...wait, those do sound synonymous, damn, hadn't even thought about that. Brainwashed is basically having your mind overridden and reprogrammed, there's memories there but they're not real ones. Mindwiped is just nothing there to reprogram at all."

"Did Hydra do that too?"

"No, Hydra can't touch this, something they need to have programmed in their heads for all the times they tried and failed any of their aims when they had me. I can't tell you the who, but I can tell you it was painless and done willingly and without regret."

"You chose to have memories taken from you?"

I nodded simply, unable to elaborate as per the deal.

Loki, knowing there was some things I couldn't talk about for reasons he wouldn't know until hopefully later, chose to cut in then. "I think that's enough curiosity for now, we should get going and finish the plan you concocted for us."

I smiled thankfully at Loki and nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course. Parker, if I don't make it back by tomorrow...just wait longer."

"Stop teasing the child, Nell, you could be really testing his patience with your antics and we wouldn't be welcomed back."

"You wouldn't, I would because I'm a delight to be around." I strutted after him anyway and he shook his head and beckoned me out of the bathroom and unfortunately out of the apartment.

"The Hydra agents and people that turned on you would say otherwise."

"The Hydra agents don't even know what joy is, the only time they're smiling is when they think they're about to take over the world and people are dying around them...the traitors are just pussies which means it doesn't take much to make em weep."

"Again with the metaphors."

"Maybe you should start taking some notes, eh? Give you a head start seeing as I'm all caught up on my end, unless you got something to add there?"

"Well you still haven't proven you can get the mannerisms right and mannerisms maketh men."

"But we are not men..."

"No, we're immortals."


	20. The Masks We Wear

"If this doesn't work, I'm so tattling on him to Tony, house arrest be damned," I muttered as we teleported to a good spot away from the city and its people but not exactly empty of bodies. "Put way too much faith in the kid, I hate kids, what makes him so special?"

"Getting cold feet, love?" teased Loki beside me as he surveyed his surroundings to see if we were in the clear.

"I think we've had cold feet long before now, you being a Frost Giant and me not having blood circulation and all that stuff with the heart and breathing and stuff," I mused.

"You don't give up, do you?"

I snorted. "Tried that, didn't work for me, something about not staying down even when buried."

"You think Parker and I are so alike which means that if you don't have faith in him, you might as well not in me."

"He's just really strong and smart, you've got a bit more going on for you that I'd be ok placing all my bets on."

"Then trust in me to ensure our safety if things go sideways for us," he offered.

"Safety isn't exactly what I'm worried about, neither of us are that easy to kill and they don't exactly want us dead last I checked."

"Then what troubles you?"

I chewed on my bottom lip worriedly. "I don't like running, even if I had the legs for it. I also don't like being shot at and having my lover constantly be used against me."

"I recall you saying that's not the first time something like that happened."

"It shouldn't have, it's why I always try to surround myself with powerful people, so I don't have to worry about that happening when I'm suddenly a target again. I don't like that they took something I actually kind of enjoyed from you and used it to take me down, that was our thing and they essentially ruined it and weaponized it." My hands curled into white knuckled fists, power sliding down my arms from my chest and gathering into my fingers. "Up till now they were a nuisance, a loose end that just bugged the shit out of me but still manageable. Now they're prey by making it personal and I'm gonna gut them like a fish and hang them by their small intestines while I boil their eyes and rip out their lungs...or maybe I'll just make em blood eagles, in your honor."

"Why that method for me?"

"It's a favored method of the people that first worshipped you, or rather your adoptive people I should say."

"I'd say just leave that to the ones that turned on you, seems a bit much to do that to all of them, and time consuming at that as there are a lot of Hydra agents but only a handful of bad people from your end."

"Valid point, will do."

"They took something from us and made it our weakness, so together we must take it back and make it our strength."

I nodded in agreement. "And then we make them our bitch."

"We make them kneel and then we break them."

"Crush our enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentation of their bitches, the three most important things in life."

"Let's show them what happens when you anger the gods, shall we?"

"Don't have to ask twice." I raised my hands to my chest and held them apart facing each other so death magic could gather between them. From between my hands, a ball of black lightning and white smoke began to form until it was about the size of a big plump award winning pumpkin then slammed it into the ground. "Cover your ears, I'm gonna make a call." I waited for Loki to do so before waking the dead in a war cry that to the human ears sounded like a cross between a death rattle, a banshee cry, and the angry shriek of the Nazgul in Lord of the Rings. "If this works, can I just wear this for Halloween, see how many people I can fool with it? None of my own costumes can even compare."

Loki chuckled and shrugged. "Let's just see how it works here for now, Halloween later."

It didn't take long for them to come to us and I was glad the Avengers didn't show up either as they would've blown the whole plan to bits before we could get started. "Ready for the fight scene," I muttered.

"Fancy meeting you here," George, the first traitor I had seen in their base building, mused.

"This is your idea of fancy? Do you even own a suit?" asked Loki. "You seem more of a fedora and sword replica kind of guy."

I smirked at this but decided it might be better if he did in fact to most of the talking if this was gonna work. "If that's the case then he forgot to address you as m'lady, so rude of him."

"They say manners maketh men, so what does that make you?" he asked George.

George glared at Loki. "It makes me really glad we figured out how to take you down thanks to your little Norse god there."

"Little? Someone's in need of glasses if they think a Frost Giant that's a full foot taller than you is little," Loki shot back. "And who really figured it out, cuz last I checked you're just a scared little boy hiding behind a bunch of agents."

He glared at the god before pulling out a fancy tech gun I could only assume was the same kind that shot me and turned me mortal temporarily. "Tell me who's scared now, eh?"

"I'd say the one holding a modified gun because he couldn't take down his intended target like a man, cowards tend to favor guns. It takes a real man to fight someone close range, armed or not," I replied smoothly.

The other agents surrounding us all had their similar fashioned guns aimed at us but made no move, most likely believing we would come quietly. Joke's on them, Loki especially knows I never come quietly, I'm a real animal then, dead or alive. George of course, being the easily offended, butthurt little boy he really was, did however make a move and fired his Loki magicked gun angrily with what he probably thought was his grrrr face but just made him look like a kid that was told he couldn't have cookies before dinner. Loki was thrown back by the energy blast emitted from the gun and landed on his side a few feet away from me while I stepped forward, a dagger in each hand and put myself between Loki and George.

"Try me, mortal," I sneered.

That was when one of the agents took aim at me and I felt something sharp and metal attach itself to my neck, for a split second my skin felt hot and burning before it went back to cold and calm again. One dagger went back up my sleeve as I reached up and yanked off a tiny metal electro disk thing that had been used on Loki not too long ago. I held it between my index finger and thumb curiously before crushing it in one hand and glaring at the agent that shot me.

"You missed," I told them dryly.

More agents and George as well surrounded Loki while only a few surrounded me. Loki however waited till they were closer to him before slowly getting to his feet and brushing himself off with an eyebrow arched in challenge.

"Was that supposed to scare me? You know I own a screampark, right? Jumpscares won't work on me."

George shot at Loki again and then fired a normal revolver gun at him right after, the bullet or whatever was being used as a bullet bounced off him as did the energy gun. Loki then lunged forward, grabbed George by the throat with one hand and broke the wrist of the hand holding the energy gun, the revolver dropping the first time he was grabbed. While he was doing that, I turned my attention to my own little group of agents that were using all kinds of different means to electrocute me, even one of those wire tazers cops use to detain without killing people, even though it can kill people if the voltage is high enough or you have one of those heart monitor things. I simply tore the wires attached to me off myself before slashing my way through the little crowd I had with the hidden daggers until I was the last one standing. I then looked over to see how Loki was doing again to find most of his agents were down and out and it was just George left standing.

"That's all you came with? Really? I'm very disappointed in you, Georgie, I thought you knew it takes an army to take down the leader of one," Loki told him.

"That should've worked, you are each other's weaknesses."

"I've got a question, I thought if I cut off enough heads, more would take it's place, isn't that their motto? Why are there no more heads?" Loki asked.

George glared at him and pulled out his ceremonial dagger with his one good hand just as I silently was walking up behind him, his attention on Loki just as I needed it to be. Green magic then enveloped Loki for a moment which caused George to freeze as he wasn't looking at who he thought he was then.

"Hiya Georgie," I murmured behind George just as magic danced along my body as well thanks to Loki and Peter's plan. George spun around just as my battle outfit changed and right as he saw what I really was, before he could use his dagger, my hand was in his chest, clutching his soul and this time I wasn't leaving it in. My entire arm shifted into a skeleton's as I pulled it out of him, he barely had time to scream in unimaginable agony before he crumbled just a shell, his soul still in my skeletal hand. Any lingering Hydra agents that somehow survived being broken or slashed between the two of us were then destroyed as I used the power of the soul in my hands to incinerate them from the inside out before scattering what was left of the soul.

Loki stared at me in a mixture of awe and something else I couldn't quite place before walking over to me. "Your arm..."

I held it up and wiggled the finger bones tauntingly. "I couldn't resist." I knelt down and shoved the bony bits into the earth, drawing power from the dead within it to help me heal and when I pulled my arm back out, it had all the needed parts of flesh, blood, muscle and tendon again. "Tis but a scratch."

"What about that whole display of power before they got here though?"

"That was me making sure I had ground coverage so they didn't have backup after we were done with them and then a little something special after that."

"Why do I get the feeling we'll see what you did on the news or be sought after by the Avengers for it?"

"Because when are my methods ever orthodox?" I retorted.

"I knew there was a reason I like you."

"Pretty sure it was the mindblowing sex, be honest, when was the last time you even got laid?"

"I don't have to answer that or to you for that matter."

"When someone openly dismisses a simple question, that usually means the answer is the obvious one you don't want to admit. No further questions, your honor, the defense rests."

"Come here." He grabbed me by my hoodie and pulled me flush against him for a kiss. "Would've done this sooner but I don't love myself that much."

I snickered at this. "If you don't love yourself, you're not fit to love others. So can we switch bodies for halloween? Seems only fair I should have more fun being in you for once when it's always been the other way around in the bedroom."

"We're not switching bodies in the bedroom," Loki stated quickly.

"No no, even I wouldn't do me."

"We'll see when the holiday draws nearer. Should we tell the spider child his plan worked?"

"Do you have a phone? Hydra stole mine."

He held out a hand and produced one with magic, even going as far as putting Peter's number in it for me out of sheer memory as Peter had offered it to us despite me telling him I didn't possess that technology currently. I then entered Peter's number and waited for it to ring and him to pick up which he did with a hesitant hello.

"Bitch, we lived," I stated smugly.

"It worked? I mean, of course it worked or I wouldn't have thought it up...it did work right?" Peter asked.

"It worked like one of Rihanna's hit singles."

"What will you do now....also did you hear there's been hordes of zombies storming random buildings?"

"Trust me, Pete, they ain't random."

"That's you doing it?"

"That's me hunting down Hydra from afar."

"How will the zombies know it's Hydra?"

"I asked the victims of the organization if they wanna get revenge on them, judging by your report their answer was yes. Remember, Avengers might have a Hulk but I have an army."

"Does that mean you won't return to the Avengers compound?"

"I'm not a team player and I don't expect others to fight my battles for me and I still have to sort out the remaining traitors but yeah I'm not going back, I'm just gonna lay low and wait for those bastards to come to me like an ant-lion. You take care, kid, don't get killed, I'm not bringing you back."

"I'll try not to, good luck, Nell."

I ended the call and looked up at Loki.

"Where shall we go now?" he mused.

"Take me down to paradise city, where the magic's strong and the girls are witches, oh won't you please take me home?" I sang.

He grinned, wrapping both arms around me as green magic swirled around us. Hydra-0, Gods-2.


	21. Pound Me the Witch Drums

"This might be the best Falloween yet," I mused as we watched the parade commence down the cobblestone streets, witches of all shapes and colors dancing around.

"What makes you say that?" asked Loki curiously.

"Just a feeling."

"What are you going to do about the other necromancers?"

"Find the top dog and make them my bitch."

"That's my girl," he purred, tilting my chin up to kiss me. "Did it hurt, when your arm went skeletal?"

"That's the reason why it went that way, I told you, holding onto a soul is manhandling a nuclear reactor, that much intense concentrated burning power would fry the one holding it instantly, going skeletal makes it so its a lot less painful for me since there's no nerves there to tell me that's one hot potato. I probably wouldn't survive ripping out yours though, I'm betting, skeletal or not." I rested a hand on his chest, drawn to the power and the beat of his heart before he took said hand and kissed that too.

"You are so much more powerful than you let on."

"People let their guard down easier when they think I'm not up to snuff, makes it easier for me to kick their ass. What did you think when you first met me?"

"From what I was told of Hydra, they're only after powerful and dangerous things, and there you were in their grasp, bound and muzzled so you had to be at least one of those things they hunt so fervently. That alone had my interest at least a little, one solitary woman sitting in the middle of a cell with nothing but a black cloak on and very little else to go on. There's no records of what you were before they caught you and we found nothing on who you are to them, what their intentions were, they covered their tracks thoroughly when it came to why you were there. And then there's the fact that you had no fear whatsoever upon looking at me, you talked to me as if we had known each other before we even met, with such ease and humor. Tony did that when we met but he was also just stalling me so he could prepare to attack after. But you didn't do anything but talk, almost if you knew, as if you were waiting for me all along."

I smiled and shrugged at his assessment. "I could tell whatever reason you were there, it wasn't the reason Hydra was there, you weren't there to continue what they started, that much was clear. You weren't there to kill me, not like you could anyway, not here to experiment, you didn't have that mad scientist vibe I got from pretty much every other person that walked to my cell since I was put there. You seemed curious but not dangerous, not to me anyway, and what did I have to lose?"

"Clever girl."

I grinned. "I am what I am."

"And you are mine."

"Not too long ago, I was you."

"How long are you going to keep making jokes on that?"

I shrugged and smirked. "Till it stops being funny I guess. You gotta work on those dead jokes if we pull that stunt again."

"I thought I played you flawlessly then considering I got them to all focus on me while you pulled a classic surprise attack only I could do so well."

"It's not all about you, Loki," I teased.

"You should know by now I'm a generous lover if nothing else," he purred, kissing me once more.

"Loki, you slippery little ladykiller," a different voice boomed from behind us, causing us both to spin around.

"I beg your pardon," demanded Loki, not quite getting the term.

"Hey, I was like this when he found me," I countered the joke.

Thor stood there, arms crossed, face smug with a playful glare shaking his head at us. "Tony's been trying to track you down for ages, where did you two go? Last place was the park in New York."

"We hit some obstacles and got snagged a few times but it's all good now," I assured the beef god.

"At this point, I don't know which one of you is the real troublemaker here, Tony assures me it's you, Nell, but he doesn't know my brother like I do."

"There a reason you're here, brother," Loki asked boredly.

"There's been sighting of undead raiding buildings we found out after were all Hydra bases, just making sure they're on our side and not coming for us next."

"It's ok to be scared, you know," I teased. "Tis the season to be spooky."

"So I've noticed here especially, everyone's dressed up as different beasts and professions, some naughtier than I remember. But those corpses attacking the agents, that's you, Nell?" Thor asked.

"You won't find many other necromancers that can raise that many zombies, much less spread them between bases, so yes, that's me. Tell the Avengers I said you're welcome and also never send a man to do a woman's work, we're tired of cleaning up your messes."

"That doesn't seem fair," he grumbled. "Very well, do try to stay out of serious trouble if you can, I won't let the others know where you are so you can enjoy the festivities." With that, he was gone.

"I think you hurt his feelings," joked Loki.

"He's a god, he'll survive."

"It's refreshing knowing someone that isn't that fond of him."

"What's so special about thunder anyway, all it is is the sound lightning makes during a storm, big deal, he's the god of storm sounds, how is that even a power really?"

"People could argue what's so special about mischief."

"It's playful, it's fun, it very rarely causes serious harm, it's youthful despite the god of it being ancient, almost childlike in itself but anyone can do it no matter the age. Have I told you what people used to do to houses that refused trick or treaters? They'd throw eggs or toilet paper at the house, very rarely causing any real damage but still got the point across. Life would be so boring without some mischief in the mix but no one would care if we didn't have thunder. It wasn't just because you were the first one to free me that I chose you, hun, I met Thor right after if recall correctly, I regret nothing."

We continued to enjoy the parade before a few tiny humans known as kids walked over to us curiously.   
"Are you the god Loki?" one girl asked him hopefully.

"That I am," he replied proudly but stiffly.

"My mom worships you."

"Where is your parents now?"

"Probably wondering where these little maggots ran off to," I mused.

The girl suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him along, her friends surrounding us as we were lead a woman dressed as a traditional black garbed witch also watching the parade. "Mom, guess who I found. See if he can get us a pony or a million bucks."

"I don't generally offer wishes," muttered Loki as he glanced down at the happy child then to the woman who we guessed was her mother who had the grace to look embarrassed.

"That requires the sacrifice of the firstborn daughter last I checked," I joked.

"And that's why no one would worship you," he teased back.

"That's not true either, you do."

He scowled but couldn't deny the truth of it. "Why do you worship me, mortal?"

"Because you've done more good than you know, I know you were part of the attack on NYC but in doing so you brought together the best of us to keep the world safe, and gods should be worshipped for all they've done, not just for what they're known for," she replied easily.

Without word or warning, Loki stepped forward, touched the woman's forehead, then spoke softly in what I had to assume was Norse incantations. "May your hearth always be warmly lit, may mischief always come in good forms, and the cold never bother you." He stepped away from her with a small smile.

She bowed her head to him, a hand over her heart then looked over to me. "The spirits follow you but you are not a registered psychic or at least not one known."

"I'm not a psychic at all, that's just a side effect of what I really am." I held out my hand to her in invitation.

"Your aura is both white and black but never grey, you used to be human but you're not now, you're something else entirely." She held my hand in both of hers and her eyes went back into her head for a moment before she gasped, her body going stiff. "The pawns have fled or died, one remains, the one that betrayed you. He grows strong and though you are always stronger, you must not hold back like you did before, no matter what happens." She let go, closing her eyes and seemingly returning to normal. When she opened her eyes, she stared at me in horror and fear, putting herself between me and her ever curious child and slowly backing away. 

I watched her hurry away from me and shrugged it off, never really bothered by people finding out the truth or just being afraid of me, my last job was all about scaring people for money.

"What was all that about?" asked Loki, watching his new subjects slip away.

"Seems we'll find out who the person that sold me out was after all and you might get to see what I'm really capable of."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It is...Loki, there's reasons I can't tell you everything about me, some of it is forbidden, some of it...it's just better you didn't find out."

"Why? What are you so afraid of?"

I stopped wandering the street and turned around to face him. "The real question here, is what are you afraid of?"

"You think you'll scare me off if I find out the whole truth about you?"

"It's only natural."

"I faced the goddess of death and the whole destruction of my realm and home without hesitation."

"It was never really your home and you let your brother handle her I'm told while you were more backstage stuff."

"Point is," he growled. "There is very little I'm afraid of, and you are not among the few on that list."

"Not yet."

"My love." He cupped the side of my face with one hand. "Whatever you are, whatever you become, whatever you do, you have me, you know this, I gave you my word. You could become the next Surtur or Hela incarnate or worse and you'd still have me."

"Why?" I demanded. "Why such blind faith in me?"

"Because that's what love is, isn't it? It's blind, foolish even at times, but more importantly it's putting your heart and faith in another person no matter what happens between them."

"And do I have your heart?"

He took my hand with his free one and held it against his chest firmly. "You're always so eager to feel it yourself, you should know already it was for a while." His eyes never left me as I was hypnotized yet again by the steady beating of his heart. "What more do you need of me?"

I knew I was being unreasonably insecure all things considered, I knew he was mine and he wouldn't leave unless there was no other choice as he hadn't left me yet and most of the problems we faced were because of me. "I only need you."

"Good. Now why the uncertainty this time? Last time it was because you were being betrayed and had certain doubts where one's loyalty lies."

"I usually relish in other people fearing me but then they feared what they only assumed and didn't truly know, she knew, your worshiper did, she saw what I really was and fled. It made me wonder what your reaction would be when you found out."

"You tease me about my old age yet forget I've been around thousands of years before meeting you, whatever you are, I can promise you I've seen worse."

"But have you loved worse?"

"Does Odin count?"

I blinked, not expecting that for some reason and the uncertainty started to fade. "Would you say so? I don't actually know anything beyond what I read in the myths and what you've told me."

"He was one of the few great beings that kept the Mad Titan at bay as well as my adoptive father and all the secrets he kept, he kept till the very last possible second, if there is anything I picked up from being raised by him, it's holding onto secrets like that. My point is, love, you're stuck with me."

"Gods forbid," I joked.

"Not this god," he argued before pulling me against him to kiss me passionately. "You have all of me for eternity, but can you say the same?"

"I'll probably last longer than you in the end so I'd say almost eternity," I mused.

"Is that so? I recall outlasting you several times at least in certain...circumstances."

I scoffed at this. "What makes you think that wasn't intentional to spare your ego?" I suddenly found myself in a side alley, pinned against a brick wall away from the gathering crowd for the parade.

"Because I know a liar when I see one," he purred in my ear. "But I'm more than willing to prove you wrong there as well."

I was about to make a witty comeback but a sharp gasp escaped my lips instead as he dove in hands first. My mind went fuzzy with pleasure as he worked his magic on me, whispering dirty, exciting things in my ear, my legs shortly turning to wet noodles against him that I had to grip onto his shoulders to keep myself up and bite my tongue to keep quiet in broad public. This was a new one for us, getting me off in public with no reciprocity, all the focus and pleasure was for me. Vaguely I could feel his eyes burning into me, glittering as he watched me unravel in his hands several times before he was sure I had more than enough. I was at a loss of words after that, still half dazed and fuzzy with the aftershocks, Loki watching in pure amusement before tilting my head up to steal a kiss from my already parted, swollen lips.

"You shouldn't be so worried I'd leave you when I've already bought us a place to ourselves, you know," he murmured, taking full advantage of my silence. "I've actually wanted you the moment you were set free after I found you in that cell, the fact you wanted me back set that in stone. It was never about what you're capable of, or what you are either, it was who you are and who you are to me."

"And what am I to you?" I managed to ask through the haze.

"It's simple, really, you're mine. Thought I made that clear in the bedroom many times before this. Not just pretty words, you know. Why would I leave someone I can't get enough of?"

"It's not all about sex?"

"It's not just that, that I want with you."

"Then what?"

"All you are, all you have to offer. Just as you have all of me. All's fair in love and fun stuff, isn't that what you said when we met?"

I scowled at him though couldn't help the smirk underneath it. "Well played."

"Master of tricks, remember."


	22. Deader Is Better

It was exactly one day before the greatest holiday of all time, and not just because I was the most powerful I'd ever be that year. The streets were packed with people, every parking lot was booked solid, every parking space even, residents were even renting out some of their spaces for pocket money. Loki and I helped out Zari with her little store in exchange for letting us crash at her place, Loki was both surprised and delighted by how accepting people were of him even after asking if he was who he was. I explained to him that while the country as a whole has a longass way before it can be completely progressive and welcoming, Salem, being one of the first historical places here that destroyed itself in fear and intolerance, was probably the first to turn that around. It went from burning, hanging, crushing, and torturing people that were considered different and therefore dangerous to welcoming the different and weird as one of their own. No one even cared he took over New York, what they saw was an alien army attacking the city and a god that brought a bunch of heroes together to stop them.

"If Asgard were still around, I wish it had a city like this, celebrating magic and welcoming the weird as you'd say," mused Loki.

"Isn't there a realm entirely like that? Where the Light Elves live?"

"Look at you, trying to learn my culture," he teased. "It was where my mother learned magic and passed it onto me, yes. But we didn't go there often enough for me to call it another home. Most of the time, if we went anywhere it was to beat the natives into submission thanks entirely to Thor."

"For all the advancements your people had on us, the technology, the magic, the fuckton more years in a lifespan, you're not that far off in some idealogies from us. Rarely does peaceful methods end a dispute between peoples. Oh sure, there's been tons of times we tried that, it rarely works in our favor though. Peaceful rallies or marches are usually ended with police brutality they claim is the right way even when they're throwing tear gas grenades at unarmed civilians, tazing random protesters they later claim as dangerous, or just blasting them with high pressured firemen hoses. It always ends badly, with injuries, false claims, and injustice. I'd seriously love to meet Odin just to tell him he ain't special."

Loki smiled at this and kissing the top of my head. "I shouldn't be proud of you despising him like I did, but I am anyway. I am glad you met my mother in some form though, I had a feeling she'd like you."

"She told me to trust you and that in doing so, you'd stay with me as no one else besides Thor if even that, has trusted you since you came here indefinitely. A lonely existence that is, everyone keeping you at arms length. I can understand that, outside of Salem, skin color alone is an excuse not to trust someone, people see someone that looks like they're past their expiration date like me and they go running. Hell, even hair color or skin ink can keep you from getting jobs here, we're still an extremely regressive country. Not worth saving anytime soon."

"Then why bother?"

"Because unfortunately I'm one of the idiots inhabiting it with no way to some place better."

"I asked Thor why he fought so hard to protect this speck of a planet once, don't recall him giving me a good answer but yours shall suffice, if nothing else, because you're part of it."

"Whoa, hold your eight legged horses, you really don't need to do that...at all. Just find a way out of here if we can't at least save this city, the Avengers can handle this planet and if they can't...well at least they tried right? We don't need to get involved when neither of us signed any kind of hero contract like they did."

"You sure?"

"I'm not just sure...I'm HIV positive."

"You'd have to be alive to contract that disease and I'm not quite sure it would transmit to something already dead."

I opened my mouth to retaliate but something else stayed my tongue for a moment, something felt wrong, unnatural even. "Listen...do you smell that?" I asked curiously. Loki didn't get a chance to answer as a great surge of necro-power struck me full force and I was sent flying back several feet away, breaking several trees of the park we were enjoying till then along the way before my back slammed against a particularly thick one and I stopped flying. A dull pain exploded from my chest mere inches from where the stone was protecting my important bits and cool black blood lightly dripped from my lips. I looked down at where the pain came from and blinked in surprise.

"Oh look I've been impaled," I mused before breaking off the branch sticking out of my body and stepped away from the tree behind me. I looked for the source of the power surge and glared as I spotted the culprit walking toward us.

"Are you hurt?" asked Loki warily.

"Just a flesh wound," I assured him, gathering power from behind into my arms and fists. "You might wanna sit this one out though."

"No no, let him try," the attacker taunted as he got closer to us.

"I knew I smelled something rotten in the wind," I muttered. "What is it this time? First the heart, now the brain rotting away, would make sense if it was you that sold us all out."

The man before us glowered at me then flashed rotting, blackened teeth, while for the most part he looked alive, he was essentially rotting from the inside out. "You aren't the only one with a stone organ, my head will remain just as much as your heart does till I rip that out of you."

I arched an eyebrow. "Lemme guess, one of your Hydra buddies was a brain surgeon or so he claims. They all think themselves doctors of something that organization, not one medical degree posted when I was with them though, kinda makes you wonder."

"They don't need doctors for corpses," he snapped.

"You sure you're not braindead? Cuz I'm sure coroners and morticians both require a medical degree to be licensed with the job."

"Have a few run-ins with those folks have you?" he sneered. "You know the best part about you was at the very least being a warm body at the end of the day, now you don't even have that."

I snorted at his attempt to insult me. "Oh hun, the best part of you ran down your mother's legs. You gonna bark all day, you little bitch, or are you gonna bite?"

He held his hands to his head and another ball of smoke and lightning came hurtling at us but this time it was aiming for Loki at breathtaking speed, he was essentially pulling an Azula on me thinking I'd either let Loki get hit or take it myself but I saw his Azula and raised him a Dumbledore, telling my guiding spirits to yank him away from the path of the ball as I wouldn't be fast enough to help myself. I waved my hand toward Loki and he was suddenly swept aside and away from the direct battle ahead. Loki scrambled to his feet, a dagger in each hand and returning to his battle armor swiftly, glancing at me in shock. I mouthed a sorry to him before focusing all my attention to the rotten necromancer in front of me.

"Targeting what's mine isn't your best move when you really don't need to give me more motives to decapitate you than you already have," I warned. 

"I know he's your weakness though. I want to see just how weak he really makes you," he sneered. "If what doesn't kill you makes you strong, what about when you're already dead."

"You're well on your way to finding that out yourself, hun. I can help answer that for you though." I thrust out a hand and black lightning flew from my fingertips. My rival managed to shield some of it with his own magic but as he wasn't a demi god the impact of that much power still sent him flying back. I didn't wait for him to get up though as I charged at him with a ball of power around each fist.

He rolled away right before I could punch in his head and destroy the stone inside it and got to his feet as I stood up, charging at me as I straightened up so we were suddenly toe to toe trying to kill each other. For a solid few minutes it was just dodging and exchanging blows and balls of energy before he decided to get sneaky and tried to slash me with his ceremonial dagger hidden in his boot. I dodged it just enough to not actually cut me but it did do some damage to my hoodie which had me glaring at him as I loved my hoodies. From there, it was throwing either each other, balls of power, or punches at each other with him occasionally trying to throw power at Loki who quickly learned to keep an eye on his attacks as much as I was without interfering, this wasn't his fight anymore. The ground around us was starting to look barren and dead from the effects of our powers used against one another, the grass brittle and brown. We both paused for a moment, both battered and frustrated neither of us were getting the upper hand with what we were doing.

"Why won't you stay down?!" he demanded.

I scoffed. "What is dead can never die. What's your dilemma here? What did Hydra even offer you to make you switch sides?"

"A chance to be something greater than this, the other necromancer, to be a demigod."

"And how's that working out for you?" I asked in bemusement. "They aren't higher powers, they're hired powers, there's a difference. There's no cutting corners on that one, ask nicely or die trying. How did you know where to find me? On the plane?"

"I had a spook tail you, not all the spirits are on your side you know."

"The good ones are, the rest are usually locked or exorcised so kudos on finding one of the select few willing to help a brother out."

He narrowed his eyes at me, collecting powers as he did. "If I'm not given what I want, then I'll have to take it myself just like I did with the other necromancers that went against me."

"And that's why no matter where that stone is surgically implanted in you, you will never be one of us, going against your own kind for something you'll never get." I lowered one hand to the ground and reached into the earth with just death magic alone, calling for something very specific as I waited for him to make the first move this time. "Especially not from me."

"And what makes you so special?" he demanded.

"Come here and find out." He lunged forward, taking the bait and I dropped to one knee at the last second, dodging his power-fist at the same time a rotted hand burst from the ground with my own dagger I snatched up and sliced into my enemy's rotted guts. He stumbled back, his free hand going to his stomach as he was weakened but not done for, the stone keeping him barely alive inside him. "Almost seems pointless since you're already decaying inside."

He looked at the wound I gave him from my dagger and glared at me as it was already speeding up the process. "You little cunt."

"Let me guess, you're gonna kill me, right? Join the line of people with empty threats they never finish."

Black lightning danced around his head and down to his body, staving off the spreading death from reaching his neck but not healing the blade wound either. "Should I rip out your soul first or your stone?"

"You say that like you've actually gotten the upper hand in this fight but who here has the unhealed wound and who here has survived worse?" I retorted.

He sneered at me with his rotten teeth and lunged forward once more but being the slimy little bastard he was, pulled his dagger apart so there were actually two identical ones and threw one at my leg while making a bee line around me with the other dagger at Loki. I gritted my teeth as the dagger hit its mark in my thigh and not wasting time even to take it out of me, threw a power ball at him from behind so he couldn't dodge it and sent him off his course to my lover. I then took out the dagger in my leg and limped over to the bastard despite the agony burning through the entire limb. I didn't wait for him to get up and kicked him hard in the head right where I guessed the stone was before aiming for the wound I gave him with my blade. "Silly bastard, kicks are for ribs." His snapped under my leather boots. He tried to throw the other knife he still had at Loki but I caught it this time and dissolved the twin dagger like I did the one in my leg. I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up, and slamming into another park tree while holding him in place.

"You really wanna know why you can't kill me after all this time?" I challenged.

"You don't scare me, Nell," he choked out.

I recalled what the Wiccan seer had told me and let go of everything holding me back. "I can fix that. You can't kill a Horsemen." A different kind of power rippled throughout my body, not necromancy, but something stronger, eternal and deadly and incomparable. The entire arm and hand holding him up was skeletal as was half my face and that's when fear started to leak into his. He fought and wiggled in my grasp, trying to pry my bones off his neck but my finger bones just dug in deeper while he kicked at me. I raised my free hand, also all bones, and went for his head, aiming for the stone still managing to keep him alive when his throat was slowly being punctured and torn. And then the world seemed to pause, everything went silent and still, everything was frozen even including most of me as I couldn't seem to reach the stone in his head but was poised to grab it out of his forehead. And then something else happened, something that only happened to me when something very specific was coming. I got what Peter Parker would call the "the Peter tingle" and chills ran up and down my body despite the whole lack of nerves and feelings thing I had being a skeleton.


	23. And Now a Word From Our Sponsors

"Ruh roh," I murmured before a great, powerful unseen force ripped me away from my prey and threw me aside like an angry giant girl tossing aside an old ragdoll that happened to be me.

I went flying back who knows how far off from where I started and hit the ground hard enough I didn't feel like getting back up then, my body going back to flesh and blood instantly, the power I had tapped into returning to its reserve. I groaned in agony as even sitting up seemed to hurt my entire body and my enemy, thinking he finally had the upper hand with me staying down for once, started his march to me rather than Loki. But even before Loki could intervene this time, seeing I wasn't getting back up, the shrill cry of angry crows filled the silence and through the overcast clouds of autumn a great big flock of them nose-dived right for the bastard coming at me. It happened so fast, he barely had time to cry out in shock and fear and in the blink of an eye he was forced away from me as well by the swarm and viciously pecked at whilst pinned to ground by the lot of them. I dropped my head back and stared up at the sky but right after I did, a face came into my field of view, a face of a man I hadn't seen and had hoped not to see in ages.

"Well isn't this a familiar sight?" he noted with a smirk.

"What took you so long?" I groaned. "Been watching Brandon Lee's last movie for dramatic entrances again?"

He glared at me and knelt down on one knee to get a better look at me. "We thought you could handle this."

"And I was until you rudely interrupted us."

"That's not why we gave you that power."

"We? I might be earthbound but even I know it's never a we with you lot. It's them or you."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Not the point here." He slid a hand up my wounded leg damn near sexually because he knew that would rile me up like old times despite the immense pain the blade inflicted, causing me to cry out between the combo of pain and slight pleasure before he healed it. He smirked at my reaction before offering me his hand to pull me up to my feet with enough force that I was pulled flush against his muscular body. "Still my favorite protege," he growled into my ear.

"You're doing this to piss off the only other man still standing," I pointed out.

"You want him to know, right? What better way to inform him."

"Is he allowed to know?" I wondered.

"He is now that you got our immediate attention by summoning power you aren't supposed to use till we tell you."

I scoffed at this. "What good is it if I can't use it when needed otherwise?"

He chuckled and let go of me but kept me at a close distance all the same. "I'll take care of that wanker now that you mention it." He casually walked over to where his birds were torturing the target, winking at the semi frozen god watching all this happen without being able to move due to the other man's power, and pressed a heavy black boot against the target's chest as his birds made room for him. He then put his weight on the foot on the guy and leaned forward. "If we didn't put the gems inside you ourselves, you aren't meant to do that or have that in you. That's why you're currently dying from the inside out and not simply in a death stasis like she is." He reached down and held a hand over the guy's head who began to scream bloody murder as the stone was being forcibly removed from his skull and taken from him, his head bloody once done as that was how the man removing it liked it. "Now we generally don't take lives, that job is beneath us as Supremes, but I'm not gonna stop my favorite student from doing that twice. However, I got some things to discuss with her so you stay put till I'm done, okay?" He patted the guy's cheek with a bloody hand and then stood up, getting off him and walking back to me, crushing the stone he had taken as he did. He glanced back at Loki curiously. "You always did have a thing for chaotic divines."

"There is nothing divine about you, hun," I mused. "You invented corruption."

"He'd make a nice Horsemen though, that kind of power all on his own."

I bristled at this. "Don't you fucking dare, you've taken away more than enough people in my afterlife and I'm not talking the ones I chose to forget. You want me to stop tapping into that power, leave what's mine alone first."

"You say that like I've done this before..."

I simply glared at the deity. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, you were part of it whether you made the final play or not, you're always a part of it. If you take him away too then you'll have to kill me for good to stop me from using that power again."

He just smirked and shrugged. "Relax, I can't touch him whether I plan to or not, his fate isn't in our plans." He snapped his fingers then and suddenly Loki was able to move and made a bee line to my side while eyeing the man in front of us. "You've been hounding her since you met so ask now or never know the answers you're dying to know."

"What are you exactly then?" Loki asked carefully.

"We have no true names but we consider ourselves divine planners of this world, there's two kinds, Chaotics like myself and Orders, as a whole we call ourselves Supremes."

"And Nell, what is she to you?"

"Oh so many things," he purred, causing me to elbow him in the gut.

"And you wonder why it was so easy to move on from you," I muttered.

"No one moves on from me."

"There's your answer Loki, I'm no one," I replied.

"She was my favorite student when she acquired necromancy and all the things she needed to know about herself and the Natural Supremes that demanded her service. We knew she would be among the most powerful of our planned creations and every test we threw at her, she passed and proved she was the right candidate for our grand finale."

"Are you the reason she has no past then?" Loki prodded.

He grinned at this. "Power not naturally acquired or earned but given by another has a price, and she also had a choice, turn down the power we chose her for and give it to someone else willing to pay for it, or pay it herself and accept her responsibility. Regrets, love," he teased.

"Not yet but there's always room for change," I muttered.

"And what exactly is she in the grand scheme of things?" Loki pressed.

"Besides the deadliest necromancer yet, she's also a Horsemen, I'm sure you know what those are, there's four total. Kind of fitting if you know the actual lore, one rides a pale horse, and here you are, known for being a horse at one point in your long life, and definitely pale. What are the odds?"

"Dude, stop antagonizing him, it's getting old real fast," I warned.

"How would you know? You don't age," he countered.

"Don't need to tell time to tell your jokes are as stale as your style."

"What's wrong with my style?"

"You mean besides the fact that it's you?"

"You used to sleep with her," Loki muttered, seeing the pattern in semi playful semi insulting bickering.

"Yup," we both said at the same time.

"He claimed it would make me stronger, said if I can survive being fucked by the higher powers, I can survive everything else coming for me."

"I wasn't wrong," argued the Chaotic.

"Doesn't make you right either though."

"It did though, was all part of my plan and one of the more enjoyable parts at that, I couldn't make you a true Chaotic as you have to be one from the start but as you've seen with my birdfood over there, not even the strongest earthbound necromancer could survive a stone fusion."

I sighed heavily. "Way to make it weirder than it already was. You've nothing to worry about, Loki, he's more bark than bite these days. Only ever shows up to ruin my fun, like now when I almost had him."

"You'd do more damage than I'm sure you want in your favorite city," the older god noted. "I know you wouldn't want anything to happen to it and that's exactly what happens when you tap into that much power at once and try to use it for one target alone."

I glowered at the smug bastard. "Bugger off."

"All in due time, love," he chided. "Anything else you want to know before I pop off?"

"So she's a factor in the apocalypse then? As a Horsemen?" Loki questioned.

"One of the four, yes, she's alot more powerful than any of you realize. Damn near indestructible though you apparently found a way around that, do not let anyone else find out though, between her army and myself, Hydra and anyone associating with them are taken care of so its up to you to make sure no one else knows how to use that against her. Of course I could just take that issue away myself and be done with it but that's not part of the plan unfortunately. We chose her for a reason, if her time is cut short before the big finale we're all hoping for, we'll be forced to give that position of hers to someone less suited for the role and no one wants that. If that's all, I'll be going, any further questions she's allowed to answer now that you've met one of us."

"Cro," I called to the older god before he could leave. "Was that really necessary throwing me like that?"

"Have you met you?" he countered. "You don't do what you're told till its beaten into you."

"Could've asked nicely, alls I'm saying."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Not seeing how knocking the wind out of me was fun..."

"That's because you weren't looking at the other two's faces when that happened. Try not to start the end of the world without me." And with that he was gone and the world was no longer on pause.

"You all right, love?" Loki asked me with a sigh of relief he had me to himself again.

"I think you might have to carry me home, wherever that is, feels like someone threw a moon at me. First things first though." I hobbled over to where we left the guy that caused so much trouble for us. Without the stone keeping him afoot, he was pretty much already dead since he was rotting from the start and still had my dagger wound eating at him as well. "Still alive in there?"

"I should've known you were protected by them," coughed the rotting body.

"You really should've known not to trust Hydra with things they'll never understand, look where that got you."

He cackled but it ended up being more of a choked gasp or death rattle as he finally rotted through completely.

"Okay, now you can take us back, the carrion critters will get rid of this before it scars some kid walking through here for life."

Loki smirked and scooped me up in his arms, green mist surrounding us in a flash. "To home then."


	24. Hail to the Queen, Baby

"Now remember, when they say trick or treat, that's not an invitation to be yourself, Loki," I called to him from the bathroom where Zari was helping me put the final touches on.

"Then what exactly do they mean?" he challenged from outside.

"They mean, give them the candy they came here for or they'll vandalize the house and Zari and I worked real hard last minute on all the decor, would be a shame if they got ruined because you weren't following tradition."

"As you wish," he replied lightly.

"He'd make a decent Dread Pirate Robert," Zari noted to me as she applied some makeup.

"I'm not doing Princess Buttercup," I growled. "He could pull off Inigo Montoya with his long black locks but if I'm anyone I'm Wesley."

"You'd need that silly little stache of his to complete the look though, not just the floofy black tunic and Zorro mask."

I scowled at this before letting her do the rest of my face. "Remember the last time we did Halloween together?"

"No kids."

"No distractions."

"No cares."

"No survivors," I mused. "God I miss the screaming."

"I think you're ready, let's hope he can pull off the other half of this couples costume, you're not usually one to do something...coupley either."

"If he were any other guy, I wouldn't but the dude's a shapeshifter, no one can rock whatever he chooses to be like he can. You ready for halloween, hun?!" I called out as Zari put some lipstick on me to finish the look.

"Darling, with you, every night is Halloween," he replied.

That was enough for me to throw open the bathroom door and there before me was a man with slicked back black hair cut short, in a pinstripe suit, a cigar held between two fingers. "Cara mia," he purred in character.

"Mon cher," I breathed.

"You look absolutely sublime." He held out his hand to me which I eagerly took and he pulled me to him before kissing up one arm before snatching one from my bloodred lips. "I'm all for this holiday especially if you look this good every year."

"This is the only time of year I really feel alive and will go all out on so yes, expect great and glorious things from me then."

"Get the illusions ready, people, I smell children!" Zari called to us from another room.

Loki grinned and with two snaps of his fingers, the ordinary cottage became a haunted one in full bloom. 

Within minutes, the doorbell rang like a foghorn, and Loki and I opened the door to greet our first batch of trick or treaters. Within an hour after, we created a system, the best costumes we saw got the best bunches of candy and goodies, the ones that clearly were thrown together last second or had no effort put into it and not in the spirit of the holiday, Loki would scare with his craziest creepiest illusions and minimal candy. Twice we had to send Zari to the nearest CVS to grab more bigass bags of candy as word quickly spread this house was as lit as festival of lights jack o lanterns. We were almost out of candy and the people were starting to slow down at somewhere near 9 when the doorbell chimed again and we opened it one last time for the night.

"We don't give candy to people not in costume," Loki spoke up before I could even make my own quip.

"What are you talking about, we're in costume," protested the man in red and gold armor.

"Your super-suit is not a costume, it's your work outfit," I pointed out dryly. "No candy for you."

"I gotta say though, I almost didn't recognize you with black hair, well done on your costume. Not surprised with you though, shapeshifter."

"Good thing I'm not doing it for your approval," retorted Loki smugly. "There a reason you're here, because it clearly isn't for the reason everyone else has visited this house."

"Can I have some candy?" a new voice asked innocently.

Both Loki and I looked, suddenly noticing who the voice belonged to, then looked at each other before I offered her all of what was left of trick or treating. Nat was almost unrecognizable in her costume as an evil zombie queen. "You can come in, we also have adult treats inside," I offered her. "Not you, Tony, costumes are mandatory and no, your suit is still not considered a costume, move along."

Nat accepted our invite and we stepped aside so she could enjoy our festivities before we blocked the door from Tony with arms crossed.

"You know I never said you were done with house arrest, either of you."

"It occurred to me, you are not my judge and jury here, you have no say in what I do with my life especially if I've not actually done anything wrong, you found me as a prisoner of our once mutual enemies so really you're like them for making their prisoner your own. As for Loki, he's done his job well of being my ward so he deserves the freedom I gave him which is quite cruel you didn't give it sooner, he's been there longer than I was. You sure your armor isn't made out of tin, I know a wizard that could give you that heart you've been missing."

"Excuse me?!" demanded Tony, appalled I was calling him out.

"You're excused. Loki, if you'd like to do the honors."

Loki grinned, put the cigar in his mouth to free his hands and snapped both of them twice. What Tony would see is a plain, empty, boarded up broken house and any attempt to enter it would throw him right back outside of it. Gotta love a trickster in his element.

"Nell, these cocktails are fucking awesome!" Nat called from inside. "Call me bias but you're like the pumpkin queen right now."

I looked over at Loki who took the cigar out of his mouth and offered me his hand I gladly took. He pulled me flush against him, looking lovingly into my eyes as he closed any distance between.

"Happy Halloween, cara mia."

"Et toi, mon cher," I purred.


End file.
